Phyllodoce empetriformis

Phyllodoce empetriformis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Phyllodoce
Species:	P. empetriformis
Binomial name
	Phyllodoce empetriformis; (Sm.) D. Don
Synonyms
	Bryanthus empetriformis (Sm.) A.Gray ; Menziesia empetriformis Sm. ; Menziesia grahamii Hook. ;

Phyllodoce empetriformis, the pink mountain-heather or pink mountain-heath, is found in mountainous regions of western North America in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. Its southern range includes the Klamath Range in northern California and Oregon.

Phyllodoce empetriformis is a low matting shrub with distinctive leaves which roll under themselves so tightly they resemble pine needles. It bears attractive flowers in shades of pink and purple.

It is one of the parents of the artificial hybrid × Phyllothamnus erectus, the other being Rhodothamnus chamaecistus.^[1]

Description

This common (in its native bioregion) evergreen alpine shrub bears its red-purple flower clustered at the end of the stem in leaf axils.^[2] The flowers of Phyllodoce glanduliflora, for comparison, are yellow or green-white. In Phyllodoce empetriformis, the campanulate corolla is twice as long as the calyx (compared to Phyllodoce gladuliflora, which has a corolla just barely twice as long as the calyx and is urn-shaped). Its sepals and filaments are glabrous or barely hairy (compared to Phyllodoce glanduliflora which has pubescent sepals and filaments).