Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Rhododendron neoglandulosum (formerly Ledum glandulosum) is a species of rhododendron known by the common names western Labrador tea and trapper's tea. It is a common shrub of western North America from British Columbia to California to Colorado, where it grows in moist areas such as bogs and marshes. This is an erect evergreen shrub exceeding a meter in maximum height with hairless bark along the stem and hairy or nonhairy hairs on the newer twigs. The leathery leaves are oval-shaped and up to about 3.5 centimeters long. They are fuzzy and hairy on the undersides. The flower clusters appear at the ends of branches. They are racemes of small white to cream or yellowish flowers with five rounded petals and 8 to 10 protruding stamens. The fruit is a capsule containing winged seeds. A number of Native American peoples boiled the leaves of this shrub to make tea.

Plant type

Shrub

Size

3 - 5 ft Tall

Dormancy

Evergreen

Calscape icon
Color

White, Yellow, Cream

Sun

Deep Shade

Water

High, Moderate

Sunset Zones

1, 2, 4*, 5*, 6*, 7, 14, 15, 16, 17*

Site type

Wet places

Plant communities

Alpine Fell-Fields, Closed-cone Pine Forest, Lodgepole Forest, Mixed Evergreen Forest, Red Fir Forest, Subalpine Forest, Wetland-Riparian

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 24 likely

Confirmed Likely

Sallow Button

Acleris hastiana

Miranda Underwing

Amphipyra pyramidoides

Alfalfa Looper Moth

Autographa californica