Labrador Tea Bounty

This morning, I was reminiscing over old pictures of the Sayward Forest Canoe Circuit when I came across this one. It is Labrador tea in bloom.


I remember the day I took the shot. Blanche and I were camping at Amor Lake. She was in an exploratory mood, so we went for a stroll along the beach. Before too long, we arrived at the shrub you see in the picture on the right.

Enticed by a hint of perfume floating in the air, we decided we would brew a pot of Labrador tea later on in the day. Careful not to damage the new growth, I plucked a dozen wrinkled old leaves from the base of the stalks. I stuffed them into my shirt pocket.
After I snapped the picture, I bent over a cluster of flowers to take a good whiff. Although I had smelled it many times before, the depth of the tangy perfume surprised me. I stood back, pleased and satisfied with our walk so far.


By now, I was ready to return to camp, but something caught my eye. On one of the clusters, a small reddish beetle dipped its head into the cup of a flower. Suddenly, I saw dozens of the tiny bugs, as if they had just materialized. Each cluster hosted at least one or two. Some of the beetles crept from flower to flower in a funny, robotic fashion. Others stood motionless at the cups, heads buried at the base of the stamens. The shrub was not only giving us a few leaves to make a unique, unforgettable tea, it was also feeding an entire colony of enigmatic little beetles.

Nature always gives us a show.