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Marsh Labrador Tea

Marsh Labrador Tea

Rhododendron tomentosum

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How common: Very common

Marsh Labrador Tea is a strongly scented, evergreen shrub of northern bogs and peatlands. It grows 30–100 cm tall and shows rounded clusters of small white flowers in early summer. Its narrow leaves are dark green above and rusty‑hairy beneath. Poisonous.

Did you know?

  • Provincial flower of Northern Ostrobothnia.
  • In cold weather the leaves droop and curl their edges under to save water.

About the species

Identification

Low, evergreen shrub 30–100 cm. Young shoots are densely covered in rusty-brown hairs and smell strongly when touched. Leaves 2–5 cm, narrow and tough, dark green and shiny above, edges rolled under; underside covered with dense rusty hairs. At branch tips, rounded clusters of many white, starry flowers about 1 cm across, each with five petals and ten long white threads around the center. Later small dry seed cases. Key sign: the rusty, felted leaf underside and strong scent. Unlike bog rosemary, its flowers are white and leaves are hairy below; unlike bog-myrtle, leaves are narrow and evergreen. Flowers in Finland in June–July.

Plant group

Dwarf shrubs

Habitat

mire

Toxicity

A poisonous plant – do not taste it. Source: HUS Poison Information Centre (Finland), tel. 0800 147 111.

Flowering

Jun–Jul

About the habitat

Grows on nutrient-poor, acidic peat: open bogs, edges of mires, and rocky boggy patches; in colder regions also on heathy pine woods and sometimes shores. Common throughout the country.

Sources

Photo: Agnes Monkelbaan, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hortus Haren (Groningen) 20-04-2025. (actm.) 35.jpg

Text: Pinkka: Yläkoulun Pinkka - Suot ja tunturit, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38605

Text: Pinkka: Suomen puuvartiset - Koppisiemeniset. Lähteet: Väre, H., Saarinen, J., Kurtto, A. & Hämet-Ahti, L. (toim.) 2021: Suomen puu- ja pensaskasvio. 3. täysin uudistettu p. – Publications of the Finnish Dendrological Society 10: 1–552 s., CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38605

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Metsät: tuoreet kankaat, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38605

Text: Pinkka: Kasvien talvi - Talvivihreät luonnonkasvit, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38605

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suopursu

See also