General:
Low shrub; stems 10-50 cm tall, much branched; young stems finely hairy but soon becoming glabrous.

Leaves:
Evergreen, opposite, leathery, oblong-lanceolate to narrowly oblong, (0.6) 0.8-4 cm long, (2) 3-11 mm wide, entire, margins often rolled under, shiny, dark green and glabrous above, greyish and very finely and densely short glandular-hairy beneath, often with a prominent midrib; stalks 2-5 mm long.

Flowers:
In terminal 1- to 12-flowered clusters; flower stalks 1-4 cm long, usually glabrous; corollas deep pinkish-rose, saucer-shaped, 1-2 cm wide; calyces deeply 5-lobed, lobes egg-shaped, 2-3 mm long, glabrous or occasionally sparsely and minutely fringed; stamens 10, held in sacs on petals until full bloom, densely hairy just above the base, otherwise glabrous.

Fruits:
Five-valved capsules, nearly globe-shaped, glabrous, about 4 mm wide and 5 mm long.

Notes:
Two subspecies are recognized in BC:

1. Leaves oval to broadly elliptic, usually less than 2 cm long, and less than 2 times as long as wide; calyces less than 7 mm wide; plants occurring E of the Coast-Cascades Range in BC and usually at high elevations..............ssp. microphylla

1. Leaves lance-shaped, usually 2.5 cm long or longer, and 2.5-4 times as long as wide; calyces more than 7 mm wide; plants of coastal BC and intermittently inland, usuallyat low to moderate elevations..................ssp. occidentalis (Small) Taylor & MacBryde

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Kalmia microphylla var. microphylla