Labrador Tea

Latin Name: Rhododendron groenlandicum ou Ledum groenlandicum

French Name: Thé du Labrador, Lédon du Groenland

English Name: Labrador Tea, Greenland Moss

Botanical Family Name: Ericaceae

Origin: Quebec, Canada

Harvest time: July to August

Distilled Parts: Leaves

Origin

The Greenland Moss is a medium-sized shrub found in North America from coast to coast: it crosses the Rockies to the West Coast, extends out from Alaska to the tundra of the lower Arctic mainland. Labrador tea is found on peaty, acidic and swampy soils. It will choose the least humid places such as mounds and woodlands or semi-wooded areas. It is often found in the presence of the black spruce. This resinous shrub with thick alternating and persistent leaves, gives white flowers grouped like an umbrella and which are overtaken by young shoots in the spring. The back of the leaf of the Labrador Tea plant is particular, because of the presence of woolly hairs that are white or orange.

History

The Greenland Moss is a wild tea well-known to explorers, First Nations, Inuit and Americans of the time. When tea was in short supply, Labrador tea was a common substitute. Crees from Hudson Bay used it for healing by chewing the leaves and applying it to wounds. Native American women take an infusion three times a day to facilitate delivery. Powdered leaves are very effective against headache thanks to its analgesic power. This powder mixed with fish oil was also applied directly on a baby’s irritated skin. Labrador tea is one of the most therapeutic herbs used by native North Americans.

Benefits

Labrador tea increases metabolism and stimulates the body. It is known for its benefits on the liver, but also for helping to manage moments of intense stress.

Lydia Bosson calls this hydrosol the fountain of youth.

Essential oil aromatherapy properties

Physical

Circulatory system: lymphotonic, venous and lymphatic decongestant.
Skin system: very high affinity for skin and mucous membranes, tones, softens and regenerates tissues. Inflammatory, purifying and soothing.
Digestive system: digestive, eupeptic, stomach, hepatic stimulant, appetite inducing, spasmolytic of knotted intestinal solar plexus with analgesic properties, mucolytic and lipolytic effect. Stimulates the pancreas.
Immune system: rapid and marked immunostimulant.
Nervous system: sedative, harmonizes and calms the nervous system at the neurotransmitter level, anxiolytic.

Psychic

Insomnia
Nervousness
Important stress

Uses

Liver drainer (biliary disorders), after surgery, hepatitis, cirrhosis, intoxication or as part of chemotherapy, allergies; skin diseases like: psoriasis, eczema, sensitive skin and skin allergies; digestion trouble, heaviness after meals, flatulence, and intestinal gas.

Contra-indications

to avoid during the first 6 months of pregnancy, children under 6 years of age and epileptics.

References

Franchomme, P., Jollois, R., Pénoël, D., L’aromathérapie exactement, Encyclopédie de l’utilisation thérapeutique des huiles essentielles, fondements, démonstration, illustration et applications d’une science médicale naturelle, Bayeux, Éditions Roger Jollois, 2001.
E. Miles, D. Baudoux, Les cahiers pratiques d’aromathérapie selon l’École Française, volume 6, Réflexologie, Luxembourg, Edition Inspir S.A. Collection L’Aromathérapie Professionnellement, 2008.
Danièle Festy, Ma Bible des huiles essentielles, Guide complet d’aromathérapie, Montréal, Éditions Caractère, 2009.
Site officiel : Ressources naturelles Canada
Traditional use of medicinal plants in the boreal forest of Canada: review and perspectives: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Plantes sauvages des lacs, rivières et tourbières, Guide d’identification Fleurbec, Montréal, Fleurbec auteur et éditeur, 1987.
« Le thé du Labrador : un thé antidouleur | Marie-France Léger | Santé », La Presse, 13 août 2013 (lire en ligne [archive])
Patricia Dalmas, Guide des eaux florales et hydrolats, Paris, Éditions Médicis, 2016.
Lydia Bosson, Hydrolathérapie, Guérir avec les eaux subtiles des plantes, Bruxelles, Éditions Amyris, 2015