Authors: Elliott
but of variable habit from erect stems to about 90cm tall, at least in the wild, to decumbent or mat-forming, with a wide spread. Leaves oval to oblong, up to 1.3cm long, lustrous deep green, oppositely or alternately arranged. Flowers about 6mm wide composed of five oval petals which are white above, pink beneath, in terminal clusters up to 2.5cm across, early summer. New Jersey to Kentucky, North and South Carolina, in sandy pine barrens. A variable species, sometimes divided into two varieties, though there is much overlap of characters. L.b. var. hugeri (syn. Dendrium hugeri) can be erect or decumbent with alternate leaves and glandular flower stalks. Smaller, more spreading forms are native to the higher slopes of the Carolina mountains. L.b. var. prostratum (syn. L. lyonii, Ammyrsine prostrata) despite its name can also be erect or prostrate in the wild, much depending on habitat, but the leaves are mostly in opposite pairs and larger. It is confined in the wild to mountain habitats and seems to be the usual variety found in cultivation in the British Isles, generally as a bushy shrublet up to 30cm or less in height. L.b. 'Nanum' is more densely branched and dwarfer, less than 5cm high.
