Flora of North America species comparison

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Cassiope mertensiana

Cassiope mertensiana subsp. ciliolata

Mertens' moss-heather, Mertens' mountain-heather, western bell heather, western moss heather, white heather, white moss-heather, White Mountain-heather
Photo is of parent taxon
Stems

spreading or ascending to erect, forming dense mats, puberulent, glandular-hairy, or glabrous.

glabrous when young.
Leaves

imbricate, somewhat appressed to leaf above, usually 4-ranked;

blade ovate-lanceolate, abaxial groove absent, 3–4.5 × 1–1.5 mm, margins thin but not scarious, without curled hairs at leaf tips, surfaces glabrous to glandular-hairy or sparsely hairy.

blade margins eglandular-hairy, especially on young leaves, hairs scattered, branched.
Flowers

sepals 2–3 mm, margins entire or erose;

petals connate to 1/3 their lengths, tips recurved, corolla white, campanulate, 5–8 mm;

stamens to 3 mm.

Capsules

1.5–4 mm.

Cassiope mertensiana

Cassiope mertensiana subsp. ciliolata
Phenology Flowering Jul–Aug.
Habitat Alpine fellfields, subalpine forests, sometimes red fir forests
Elevation 1500-2600 m (4900-8500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; WA; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 4 (4 in the flora).

Four subspecies were recognized by Piper, based on differences in pubescence of the stems and leaf margins.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Subspecies ciliolata is endemic to the mountain ranges of northwestern California.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Stems hairy, especially when young, glandular hairs absent; leaf blade margins glabrous.
subsp. mertensiana
1. Stems glabrous or sparsely glandular-hairy when young; leaf blade margins glandular-hairy, scattered eglandular-hairy, or glabrous
→ 2
2. Leaf blade margins glabrous
subsp. gracilis
2. Leaf blade margins glandular-hairy or scattered eglandular-hairy
→ 3
3. Leaf blade margins glandular-hairy; stems glabrous or sometimes sparsely glandular-hairy when young.
subsp. californica
3. Leaf blade margins scattered, branched eglandular-hairy, especially when young; stems glabrous when young.
subsp. ciliolata
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 447. FNA vol. 8, p. 448.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Cassiopoideae > Cassiope Ericaceae > subfam. Cassiopoideae > Cassiope > Cassiope mertensiana
Sibling taxa
C. lycopodioides, C. tetragona
C. mertensiana subsp. californica, C. mertensiana subsp. gracilis, C. mertensiana subsp. mertensiana
Subordinate taxa
C. mertensiana subsp. californica, C. mertensiana subsp. ciliolata, C. mertensiana subsp. gracilis, C. mertensiana subsp. mertensiana
Synonyms Andromeda mertensiana
Name authority (Bongard) G. Don: Gen. Hist. 3: 829. (1834) Piper: Smithsonian Misc. Collect. 50: 196. (1907)
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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