Cassiope mertensiana (Bong.) D. Don

TSO logo

Sponsor this page

For information about how you could sponsor this page, see How You Can Help

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Cassiope mertensiana' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cassiope/cassiope-mertensiana/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Synonyms

  • Andromeda mertensiana Bong.
  • A. cupressina Hook.

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
corolla
The inner whorl of the perianth. Composed of free or united petals often showy.
apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
corolla
The inner whorl of the perianth. Composed of free or united petals often showy.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
keeled
With a prominent ridge.
reflexed
Folded backwards.
style
Generally an elongated structure arising from the ovary bearing the stigma at its tip.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Cassiope mertensiana' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cassiope/cassiope-mertensiana/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

A dwarf evergreen shrub 6 to 12 in. high, branches erect or spreading; young ahoots not downy, completely hidden by the leaves. Leaves 316 in. long, 112 in. wide, without stalks, closely pressed to the shoot, tapering to a blunt apex; inner surface hollowed, outer surface ridged or keeled, thus giving a four-angled character to the twig which, leaves and all, is about 18 in. wide. Flowers nodding, solitary on glabrous thread-like stalks, 13 in. long, opening from the leaf-axils in April. Corolla cup-shaped, with five shallow reflexed lobes, 14 in. wide, pure white; stamens very short, with white stalks; anthers brown, each prolonged at the back into a bristle; style glabrous, half as long as the corolla. Calyx of five sepals thickened at the base, 110 in. long, pointed, jagged at the margins, often red or reddish.

Native of the mountains of western N. America, from California to Alaska. It is well distinguished from the common C. tetragona by the thick ridge down the back of the leaf, which in the other is grooved there. An interesting if not a showy shrub and quite hardy.