It was named for the French physician and botanist, Jean-François Gaultier (1708–56). He was born in France, practised medicine in Paris and became physician to the king in 1741. He was friendly with the botanists from the Académie Royale des Sciences in Paris, Antoine de Jussieu (1686– 1758) and Bernard de Jussieu (1699–1777), and it may well be that his interest in botany was already evident then. He sailed to Canada in 1742 where he became involved in plant collecting and the fur trade, practising medicine in Quebec at the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital. He set up the fi rst meteorological station in Canada (1742), but his major botanical work was a 400-page manuscript on the plants of Canada in preparation for a six-volume book on the flora of North America. This was never published because of the war between the French Canadians and the English. He helped the botanist Pehr Kalm to explore the area around Quebec (1749), and the grateful Kalm named Gaultheria in his honour. By 1752, his income from his salary and the fur trade was considerable and he married a rich widow who (or which) made him very happy. General Montcalm’s arrival in Quebec to fi ght the British brought with it typhus; Gaultier contracted it and died (Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online).

The following notes refer to the species of this plant. Herbal medicinal literature extols its many virtues for all manner of ills and describes the berries being used as a tea, but repeatedly cautions that it is ‘not to be taken internally’. The cautions may refer to the oil, for while the berries are reported as harmless, the oil produced by steam distillation is almost pure methyl salicylate and has caused death when ingested or applied too generously to the skin (Frohne, 2004). Small amounts are added to toothpastes.