General: Evergreen shrub; stems reddish-brown, 4-ridged or smooth, branches erect or prostrate, 0.2-1.0 m tall.
Leaves: Opposite, oblong-lanceolate, lanceolate or oblanceolate, evergreen, 1-3 cm long, leathery, glossy, toothed, margins slightly rolled under.
Flowers: Inflorescence of solitary or numerous, fragrant flowers in axillary leaf clusters all along the branches; petals 4, maroon, 3-4 mm wide; sepals 4.
Fruits: Capsules egg-shaped, 3-4 mm long 1-2 seeded; seeds dark brown, covered by a thin, lacerate, white membrane.
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)
A shade-tolerant/intolerant, montane to subalpine, Western North American evergreen shrub distributed more in the Cordilleran than the Pacific region; its occurrence increases with increasing continentality. Occurs predominantly in continental boreal and cool temperate climates on moderately dry to fresh, nitrogen-poor soils. Edaphically comparable to Gaultheria shallon. Scattered to plentiful in coniferous forests on water-shedding sites in the coast-interior ecotone, sporadic in maritime climates. Persists on cutover sites; on nutrient-rich sites inhabits decaying wood. Usually associated with Hylacamium splendens and Pleurozium schreberi. An oxylophytic species characteristic of Mor humus forms.
