Flora of North America species comparison

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Cassiope

moss-heather, mountain-heather, white heather
Stems

decumbent to prostrate, spreading, ascending, or erect, mat-forming, glabrous or hairy.
Leaves

blade canoe-shaped, without abaxial groove, or dorsiventrally expanded by marginal outgrowths forming abaxial groove, margins entire, thin or scarious, surfaces glabrous or glandular or hairy.
Pedicels

erect with deflexed tip at anthesis, elongating (or not) and straight in fruit;

bracteoles absent.
Flowers

sepals ± distinct, oblong-ovate;

filaments not enlarged at base;

anthers with awns;

ovary subglobose to ovoid;

style cylindric;

stigma capitate.
Capsules

borne on erect pedicels, subglobose to ovoid.
x

= 13.

Cassiope
Distribution
from USDA
North America; n Europe; Asia
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species 18 (3 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blades grooved on abaxial surface.
C. tetragona
1. Leaf blades not grooved on abaxial surface
→ 2
2. Leaf blade margins not scarious, without curled hairs at leaf tips.
C. mertensiana
2. Leaf blade margins conspicuously scarious, with curled hairs at leaf tips (at least on young leaves).
C. lycopodioides
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 446. Author: Gary D. Wallace.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Cassiopoideae
Subordinate taxa
C. lycopodioides, C. mertensiana, C. tetragona
Name authority D. Don: Edinburgh New Philos. J. 17: 157. 1834 ,
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

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