Cassiope mertensiana
This article is about the plant with common name white mountain heather. For the plant with common names including white Arctic mountain heather and Arctic white heather, see Cassiope tetragona.
| Cassiope mertensiana | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Cassiope |
| Species: | C. mertensiana |
| Binomial name | |
| Cassiope mertensiana (Bong.) G. Don | |
Cassiope mertensiana is a species of flowering plant known by the common names western moss heather and white mountain heather.
This heather is native to subalpine areas of western North America, from Alaska to the mountains of California. It is a small, branching shrub which forms patches along the ground and in rocky crevices.[1]
Description
Cassiope mertensiana has short, erect, snakelike stems that are covered in tiny leathery scalelike leaves only a few millimeters long. From between the layers of scale leaves emerge reddish pedicels each bearing a petite, hanging, down-facing, bell-shaped flower. The bractlets are red and the contrasting flower is white.
The white flower contrasts with the red bractlets.
References
- ↑ Brietzke, Chanda; Starzomski, Brian. "White mountain-heather, western moss heather, Cassiope mertensiana". Biodiversity of the Central Coast. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
External links
Media related to Cassiope mertensiana at Wikimedia Commons
- Jepson Manual Treatment: Cassiope mertensiana
- USDA Plants Profile
- Cassiope mertensiana — U.C. Photo gallery
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, November 22, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.