E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Cassiope tetragona subsp. tetragona
four-angled mountain-heather
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Virginia Skilton  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #70516)

E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Cassiope tetragona subsp. tetragona
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Species Information

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General:
Coarse dwarf shrub, mat-forming; stems 4-angled, stiff, ascending to erect, 5-30 cm long, finely hairy.
Leaves:
Evergreen, opposite, distinctly in 4 rows, appressed, nearly concealing the stems, egg- to lance-shaped, 2-6 mm long, deeply grooved on the back, conspicuously finely hairy and minutely fringed on outer surface, usually glabrous or glandular on concave inner surface; unstalked.
Flowers:
Solitary in leaf axils to few near branch tips, nodding on stalks 10-25 mm long, longer than the subtending leaves; corollas white or pinkish, bell-shaped, (4) 5-10 mm long, lobes egg-shaped, almost 1/2 the length of the tube; calyces reddish, egg-shaped, 2-2.5 mm long, entire; stamens not enlarged at the base.
Fruits:
Capsules, globe-shaped, glabrous, about 3 mm wide.
Notes:
Two varieties are recognized in BC:

1. Flowers usually less than 5 (6) mm long, the flower stalks generally less than twice the length of the subtending leaves........................ var. saximontana (Small) C. L. Hitchc.

1. Flowers 6-10 mm long, the flower stalks proportionately longer, more than twice the length of the subtending leaves........................... var. tetragona

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Moist to dry meadows, heath, and rocky slopes in the subalpine and alpine zones; frequent in BC in and E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; circumpolar, N to AK, YT, and NT, E to N PQ, and S to WA and MT; Eurasia.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Cassiope tetragona ssp. tetragona

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)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 1520 1520 1520
Slope Gradient (%) 0 0 0
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
0
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
3 3 3
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
B
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
1
Modal BEC Zone Class
SWB
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: SWB(1)

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Cassiope tetragona (L.) D. Don

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References