224 ERICACEAE 



ranges from Labrador to Manitoba and south to New Jersey, 

 Illinois and Minnesota. In Illinois, it is rare and has been 

 reported only in the northeastern corner, in Lake and McHenry 

 counties. It has not been reported since 1909, however, and now 

 may be extinct, 



CHAMAEDAPHNE Moench 

 The Leatherleafs 



The leatherleafs are shrubs with branching stems, which 

 bear alternate, leathery, slightly toothed leaves and perfect 

 flowers in 1-sided, leafy racemes. The 5-lobed, star-shaped 

 calyx is subtended by 2 bracts, and there are 10 stamens, which 

 are included within the 5-lobed corolla. The ovary is 5-celled, 

 with an elongate style, and the capsule is flattened, 5-valved, 

 and many seeded. 



This genus has one species, which is widely distributed 

 through the north temperate zone. 



CHAMAEDAPHNE CALYCULATA (Linnaeus) 



Moench 



Leatherleaf Dwarf Cassandra 



The Leatherleaf, fig. 59, is a low but erect or ascending, 

 much-branched shrub, II/2 to 3 feet high, with branchlets at 

 first woolly pubescent and more or less densely covered with 

 scurfy scales. The leaves tend to be evergreen and are thick 

 and leathery, oblong, elliptic, or oblanceolate, 1/^ to 1 1/4 inches 

 long, and up to i/? inch wide. The leaves in the inflorescence 

 are smaller, tipped with a small point, rounded or acute at 

 the apex, and narrowed at the base. The margin is obscurely 

 toothed or erose, and the petioles are very short but definite 

 and pubescent. 



The inflorescense is a terminal, leafy-bracted raceme usually 

 ^ to 5 inches long, the flowers of which, arranged singly in 

 the axils of the bracts, begin to bloom during the early part 

 of May. The sepals are triangular to ovate, ciliate, thick, and 

 scurfy on the back. The white corolla is oblong to cylindrical, 

 and small. Fruit matures in September as a much-flattened, 

 5-celled capsule containing many tiny, irregularly shaped seeds. 



Distribution. — The Leatherleaf, found only in peaty bogs, 



