LABRADOR TEA Ledum latifolium, Jacq.( N. O.: Ericaceae)
Common Names: James Tea, Marsh Tea, Wild Rosemary, Continental Tea. Features: An evergreen shrub common to North America and is found as far south as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. They are low ornamental plants from 1 – 6 ft. high, having narrow, dark leaves lined underneath with rust-coloured wooly hairs and bearing white, bell-shaped flowers in the early spring. During the American Revolution the leaves are said to have been used as a substitute for commercial tea. Medicinal Part: The leaves. Solvent: Boiling water. Bodily Influence: Pectoral, Expectorant, Diuretic. Uses: Very useful in coughs, colds, bronchial and pulmonary affections. Sometimes used as a table tea. For internal use the infusion of 1 teaspoonful of dried leaves to 1 cup of boiling water in wineglassful doses as needed for the control of the above mentioned. Externally: A strong decoction has been recommended for external use as a remedy for itching and exanthematous( eruptions accompanied by fever) skin diseases. Homoeopathic Clinical: Tincture of dried small twigs and leaves collected after flowering begins; tincture of whole fresh plant— Ascites, Asthma, Bites, Black eye, Boils, Bruises, Deafness, Ear( inflammation of), Eczema, Erythema nodosum, Face( pimples on), Feet( pains in, tender), Gout, Haemoptysis, Hands( pains in), Intoxication, Joints( affections of, cracking in Menier’ s disease), Pediculosis, Prickly heat, Punctured wounds, Rheumatism, Skin( eruption on), Stings, Tetanus, Tinnitus, Tuberculosis, Varicella, Whitlow, Wounds. Russian Experience: The common Russian name is Bogulnik but literature gives it another, Herba Ledu, which is very close to Canadian Ledum palustra, or Ledum marshland. Bogulnik sometimes covers miles of marshland in European Russia, Siberia and the Far East, making it impossible for other plants to invade this strong shrub abode.
The young leaves and twigs are collected in August and September. Care must be observed when drying as one of the various volatile ether oils it contains is 7½ per cent Ledum; the strong aroma from which could seriously affect the heart if one is in too close confinement during this plant drying stage( Moscow University, 1963). Folk Medicine: Medical literature gives full credit to Folk Medicine though it is not fully experimented clinically. Leaves and twigs are officially collected for state institutes and sold to pharmacies and dispensaries( Atlas, Moscow, 1962). Uses: Accommodates Coughs, Bronchitis, Bronchial asthma, Tubercular lungs, Stomach sickness, Headache, Kidney and weak Bladder, Rickets, Diarrhoea, Rheumatism( internally, and as a liniment or ointment), Pains in the chest, Scrofula, Scaby dandruff( blanketed on the scalp, or in patches). Additional: fertility, infections, tightness of breath( Bello-Russ. Academy of Science). Can cure Bronchitis in two weeks. Recommended as a tea decoction of 1 oz. tea to 2 pints boiling water; drink as required, a mouthful at a time( Medicina, Moscow, 1965). Externally: Russian Homoeopaths boil the flowers in fresh butter making an ointment for skin diseases, bruises, wounds, bleeding and rheumatism( Moscow University, 1963).