UW Burke Herbarium species comparison

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Cassiope mertensiana

Mertens's moss-heather
Habit Mat-forming shrubs, the flowering stems 5-30 cm. tall, glabrous or finely pubescent.
Leaves

Leaves opposite, 4-ranked, sessile, oppressed, scale-like, 2-5 mm. long, ovate-lanceolate, rounded on the back.
Flowers

Flowers several near the branch tips, 5-8 mm. long;

pedicels 5-30 mm. long, glabrous or puberulent;

sepals nearly distinct, 5-lobed, ovate, reddish;

corolla white, bell-shaped, the 5 lobes ovate, much shorter than the tube;

stamens 10, included;

anthers globose, with recurved awns from the back, opening by false terminal pores;

ovary superior.
Fruits

Fruit a 5-celled, globose capsule.

Cassiope mertensiana
Flowering time July-September
Habitat Open, rocky areas from the subalpine to alpine, often where dry in summer.
Distribution
Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to Montana, Idaho, and Nevada.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Native
Conservation status Not of concern
Sibling taxa
C. lycopodioides, C. tetragona
Subordinate taxa
C. mertensiana ssp. mertensiana
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the University of Washington's Burke Herbarium.



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