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Mountain Heath, Phyllodoce caerulea (L.) Bab.
Ericaceae

Height: An evergreen shrub 8-15 cm high.

Twigs: Rough, covered with persistent spirally arranged leaf bases.

Leaves: Alternate, linear, flattened, blunt-tipped, dark green and shiny above, 6-12 mm long, and crowed towards the ends of the branches. The margins are minutely toothed. The undersurface has a conspicuous whitened midrib. The needle bases follow down the stem for a short distance.

Flowers: Nodding and urn-shaped, solitary or in few-flowered clusters, on slender reddish stalks at the ends of the branches. The corolla is purplish, 7-8 mm long, and 5 lobed. Blooms in June.

Fruit: 5-parted, many-seeded, dry, red capsules on erect stalks.

Habitat: Found on cliffs and the slopes and summits of mountains of western Newfoundland, the Great Northern Peninsula, and Labrador.

Source: Native Trees and Shrubs
of Newfoundland and Labrador
By A. Glen Ryan

Used with permission from
Parks and Natural Areas Division
Department of Environment and Conservation
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador 1995