WINTERGREEN  , known botanically as Gaultheria procumbens, a member of the

heath family (Ericaceae), is a small creeping, evergreen shrub with numerous short erect branches bearing in the upper part shortly-stalked oval, thick, smooth shining leaves with sharp-toothed edge . The flowers are borne singly in the leaf axels and are pendulous, with a pale pink waxy-looking urn-shaped corolla . The bright crimson-red sub-globular, berry-like fruit consists of the much-enlarged fleshy calyx which surrounds the small thin-walled many-seeded capsule . The plant is a native of shady woods on sandy soil, especially in mountainous districts, in southern Canada and the northern United States; it is quite hardy in England . The leaves are sharply astringent and have a peculiar aromatic smell and taste due to a volatile oil known as oil of winter green, used in medicine in the treatment of muscular rheumatism (for the therapeutic action see SALICYLIC ACID) . An infusion of the leaves is used, under the name mountain or Salvador tea, in some parts of North America as a substitute for tea; and the fruits are eaten under the name of partridge or deer berries . Other names for the plant are tea-berry, checker-berry, box-berry, jersey tea, spice-berry and ground holly . See Bentley and Trimen, Medicinal Plants, t . 164 . WINTER'S BARK, the bark of Drimys Winteri, an evergreen tree belonging to the Magnolia family . It was formerly officinal in Europe, and is still held in esteem in Brazil and other partsof South America as a popular remedy for scurvy and other diseases . The plant is a native of the mountains and highlands from Mexico to the Straits of Magellan .