Wintergreen

Wintergreen. See GAULTHERIA. The oil of wintergreen, named from this plant, is an aromatic stimulant, used chiefly in flavouring confectionery and syrups; and is now obtained from the sweet birch as frequently as from the wintergreen plant. The name is also given to plants of the genera Pyrola and Chimaphila, herbaceous or half-shrubby plants. The twenty species of Pyrola are found throughout the northern hemisphere, several species being natives of Britain; the species of Chimaphila, found in North America, are sometimes distinguished as spotted wintergreen. Both Gaultheria procumbens and a low-climbing plant, Mitchella repens, are called Checkerberry in the United States.