BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Ledum groenlandicum | Bog Labrador Tea 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Bog Labrador tea is a low, native, evergreen shrub from 1 to 4 feet
(0.3-1.2 m) high [6,8].  It is prostrate to erect in form and generally
circular in outline.  The leaves are 1 to 3 inches (2.5-7.5 cm) long.
The flowers are borne on slender stalks in crowded clusters at the ends
of the branches.  The fruit is a many-seeded capsule [20,39].  Bog
labrador tea roots in the organic layer and is rhizomatous.  Rhizome
depth can reach 6 to 20 inches (15-50 cm) [16,28].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte
   Chamaephyte
   Geophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Bog Labrador tea reproduces primarily vegetatively but can reproduce by
seed [24].  It regenerates vegetatively through sprouting from rhizomes.
Length and depth of rhizomes are greatly influenced by soil and moisture
characteristics [27,46].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Bog Labrador tea grows on a broad range of sites from dry to wet, but it
is most common on wetter sites with low subsurface water flow and low
nutrients.  It reaches its greatest cover in bogs [5,7,33].



SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Bog Labrador tea is an important component of woodland understories
through the early, midseral, and late stages of succession.  It is
often abundant in the shaded portions of the forest [4]  It is also
important in the early shrub stages of tundra succession [10,30,31].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Bog Labrador tea flowers from late May to early June.  Fruits ripen from
late August through late fall [8,26].

Related categories for Species: Ledum groenlandicum | Bog Labrador Tea