General:
Creeping shrub; stems slender, 10-40 cm long, sometimes finely hairy when young.
Leaves:
Evergreen, alternate, leathery, narrowly elliptic-oblong to oblong, 7-15 mm long, glossy above, very pale beneath, margins slightly rolled under; stalks about 1 mm long.
Flowers:
Lateral on leafy branches, single in the axils of reduced leaves at base of current shoots; flower stalks 2-4 cm long, glabrous or hairy, curved at flowering, with 2 leaf-like bracts, 3-10 mm long, well above the midlength of the stalk; corollas deep pink, of 4 distinct narrow petals, 6-10 mm long, spreading or curved back; calyx lobes 4; stamens 8, filaments broad, sparsely hairy on margins, about 1/3 the length of the anther sacs; anthers unawned, with terminal tubes.
Fruits:
Berries, globe-shaped, 10-20 mm wide, deep red.
Notes:
Although sometimes considered part of the genus Vaccinium, Oxycoccus is treated separately here (as in many other floras). The flowers of Oxycoccus are 4-merous and the corollas are deeply parted, with only the base being joined. In contrast, the corollas of Vaccinium are united and generally only toothed or undulating at the summit. The differences in the flowers and growth habit seem to justify the separation.
Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
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