Cassiope mertensiana (Bong.) G. Don
Western Bell Heather (Mertens' moss-heather; Mertens' mountain-heather; western moss heather; white moss-heather; white mountain-heather)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Allan Carson     (Photo ID #17740)

Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Cassiope mertensiana
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SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC

Cassiope mertensiana ssp. mertensiana

Species Information

General:
Dwarf shrub, mat-forming; stems stiff, ascending, 5-30 cm tall, nearly completely concealed by the leaves, about 4 mm wide including appressed leaves, glabrous or finely hairy.
Leaves:
Evergreen, opposite, distinctly in 4 rows, appressed, egg- to lance-shaped, 2-5 mm long, rounded on the back, grooved only at the extreme base, glabrous or fringed with minutely glandular tiny hairs or longer chaff-like, early deciduous, white hairs; unstalked.
Flowers:
Solitary in leaf axils, usually several near the branch tips, nodding on glabrous or short-hairy stalks 5-30 mm long; corollas white, bell-shaped, 6-8 mm long, the lobes egg-shaped and about 1/3 the length of the tube; calyces reddish, egg-shaped, 2.5-3 mm long, entire to irregular-toothed; stamens not enlarged at the base.
Fruits:
Capsules, nearly globe-shaped, about 4 mm wide.
Notes:
BC material is var. mertensiana, although some is transitional to the more southern var. gracilis (Piper) C.L. Hitchc.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Cassiope mertensiana

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

Avg

Min

Max
Elevation (metres)
 1794 10 2649
Slope Gradient (%)
 27 0 250

Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]

 262 0 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric] 		3 0 8
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
 C
# of field plots
 species was recorded in:
 1881
Modal BEC Zone Class
 ESSF

All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in

 AT(69), BAFA(100), cma(69), CWH(25), ESSF(1106), ICH(1), IMA(82), MH(241), MS(1), SBS(3), SWB(37)

Habitat and Range

Mesic to dry slopes, heath, and meadows in the subalpine and alpine zones; common throughout BC, except rare on the Queen Charlotte Islands; N to AK, E to SW AB and MT, and S to CA and NV.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

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