General: Dwarf shrub, mat-forming; stems prostrate or decumbent, 5-20 cm long, about 2 mm wide including appressed leaves.
Leaves: Evergreen, opposite, 4-ranked but not in four distinct rows, appressed, egg- to lance-shaped, 1.5-3 mm long, thinly papery-margined, often fringed and long-hairy at tip, the concave upper surface often hairy, the convex lower surface not grooved; unstalked.
Flowers: Solitary in leaf axils, nodding on glabrous stalks up to 10 mm long, longer than the subtending leaves; corollas cream to white, bell-shaped, the lobes shorter than the tube, 5-7 mm long; calyces 2-2.5 mm long, papery-margined.
1. Leaves prominently grooved on the back...............Cassiope tetragona
1. Leaves not prominently grooved on the back...................2
2. Leaves in four distinct rows, not paper-margined; branches, including foliage, about 4 mm wide........................Cassiope mertensiana
2. Leaves not in four distinct rows, paper-margined; branches, including foliage, about 2 mm wide.........................Cassiope lycopodioides
Habitat / Range
Mesic to dry slopes, heath, and meadows in the subalpine and alpine zones; infrequent in NW BC, rare on NW Vancouver Island; amphiberingian, N to AK; NE Asia.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
