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 related species Gaultheria procumbens and its use in traditional medicine. Cyclooxygenase inhibitor. Contains methyl salicylate used topically, as Oil of Wintergreen, for musculoskeletal conditions, which is converted in the body to salicylic acid. Latter used for removing warts and corns.

The fruit is edible either raw or cooked