checkerberry

checkerberry
    n 1: creeping shrub of eastern North America having white bell-
         shaped flowers followed by spicy red berrylike fruit and
         shiny aromatic leaves that yield wintergreen oil [syn:
         {teaberry}, {wintergreen}, {checkerberry}, {mountain tea},
         {groundberry}, {ground-berry}, {creeping wintergreen},
         {Gaultheria procumbens}]
    2: spicy red berrylike fruit; source of wintergreen oil [syn:
       {wintergreen}, {boxberry}, {checkerberry}, {teaberry},
       {spiceberry}]
    

Wintergreen \Win"ter*green`\, n. (Bot.)
   A plant which keeps its leaves green through the winter.
   [1913 Webster]

   Note: In England, the name wintergreen is applied to the
         species of {Pyrola} which in America are called
         {English wintergreen}, and {shin leaf} (see Shin leaf,
         under {Shin}.) In America, the name wintergreen is
         given to {Gaultheria procumbens}, a low evergreen
         aromatic plant with oval leaves clustered at the top of
         a short stem, and bearing small white flowers followed
         by red berries; -- called also {checkerberry}, and
         sometimes, though improperly, {partridge berry}.
         [1913 Webster]

   {Chickweed wintergreen}, a low perennial primulaceous herb
      ({Trientalis Americana}); -- also called {star flower}.

   {Flowering wintergreen}, a low plant ({Polygala paucifolia})
      with leaves somewhat like those of the wintergreen
      ({Gaultheria}), and bearing a few showy, rose-purple
      blossoms.

   {oil of wintergreen}, An aromatic oil, consisting almost
      entirely of methyl salicylate ({CH3CO.O.C6H4.OH}),
      obtained by distillation of an extract of the wintergreen
      ({Gaultheria procumbens}); it can also be obtained from
      some other plants. It is used as a flavoring agent for
      tooth powders and pastes, sometimes combined with menthol
      or eucalyptus. It is called also {oil of teaberry}, {oil
      of partridgeberry}, and {oil of gaultheria}.

   {Spotted wintergreen}, a low evergreen plant ({Chimaphila
      maculata}) with ovate, white-spotted leaves.
      [1913 Webster + PJC]
    

Checkerberry \Check"er*ber`ry\ (ch[e^]k"[~e]r*b[e^]r`r[y^]), n.;
   pl. {Checkerberries}. (Bot.)
   A spicy plant and its bright red berry; the wintergreen
   ({Gaultheria procumbens}). Also incorrectly applied to the
   partridge berry ({Mitchella repens}).
   [1913 Webster]