Leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata)
- Family: Heath (Ericaceae)
- Flowering: April-May.
- Field Marks: This evergreen shrub differs from all other members of the heath family by its elongated tubular white corolla, its solitary flowers in the axils of the leaves, and its leaves that have tiny scales on the lower surface.
- Habitat: Bogs.
- Habit: Evergreen shrubs up to 4 feet tall.
- Stems: Upright, much branched, usually scaly and/or hairy.
- Leaves: Alternate, simple, evergreen, elliptic to oblong, rounded or pointed at the tip, tapering to the base, minutely round-toothed, smooth or somewhat hairy and with tiny scales on the lower surface, up to 2 inches long.
- Flowers: Solitary in the axils of the upper leaves, white, 1/4-1/3 inch long.
- Sepals: 5, green, united only at the base.
- Petals: 5, white, united into an elongated tube 1/4-1/3 inch long.
- Stamens: 10, not exserted beyond the corolla.
- Pistils: Ovary inferior.
- Fruits: Capsules 5-lobed, smooth, about 1/6 inch long, subtended by the persistent sepals.
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