ERICACEAE

HEATH FAMILY

Gary D. Wallace, except as specified

Perennial, shrub, tree
Stem: bark often peeling distinctively
Leaves simple, generally cauline, alternate, opposite, rarely whorled, evergreen or deciduous, often leathery, petioled or not; stipules 0
Inflorescence: raceme, panicle, cyme, or flowers solitary, generally bracted; pedicels often with 2 bractlets
Flower generally bisexual, generally radial; sepals generally 4–5, generally free; petals generally 4–5, free or fused; stamens 8–10, free, filaments rarely appendaged, anthers awned or not, dehiscent by pores or slits; nectary generally at ovary base, disk-like; ovary superior or inferior, chambers generally 1–5, placentas axile or parietal, ovules 1–many per chamber, style 1, stigma head- to funnel-like or lobed
Fruit: capsule, drupe, berry
Seeds generally many, sometimes winged
Genera in family: ± 100 genera, 3000 species: generally worldwide except deserts; some cultivated, especially Arbutus, Arctostaphylos, Rhododendron, Vaccinium
Reference: [Wallace 1975 Wasmann J Biol 33:1–88; 1975 Bot Not 128:286–298]
Subfamilies Monotropoideae, Pyroloideae, Vaccinioideae sometimes treated as families. Nongreen plants obtain nutrition from green plants through fungal intermediates.

LEUCOTHOE

Shrub, small tree, coarsely branched, hairy to glabrous
Stem erect
Leaves alternate, evergreen or deciduous, serrate to entire
Inflorescence: raceme, bracted; bractlets 2; pedicels jointed to flower
Flower: sepals 5, fused at base; petals 5, fused, cylindric to urn-shaped; stamens 10, epipetalous, anthers dehiscent by pores, awns 0–4; ovary superior, chambers 5, placentas axile
Fruit: capsule, loculicidal, persistent after seed dispersal, dehiscent tip to base
Seeds many per chamber, small, winged or not
Species in genus: ± 8 species: US, n C.Am, Japan, China
Etymology: (Greek: named for a princess of Babylon)

Native

L. davisiae Torr.

SIERRA LAUREL

Stem < 1.5 m
Leaf 1–6 cm, oblong to elliptic, evergreen, leathery, glabrous
Inflorescence in upper leaf axils, < 15 cm, many-flowered, bracted; bractlets basal; pedicels recurved
Flower: corolla 6–8 mm, urn-shaped, >> calyx, white; anther awns 0 or rudimentary
Fruit < 6 mm wide, thin-walled
Seeds winged
Ecology: Uncommon. Bogs, wet areas
Elevation: 1300–2600 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, High Sierra Nevada, Warner Mountains
Distribution outside California: Oregon
Horticultural information: WET or IRR: 1, 2, 4, 5 &SHD: 6, 14, 15, 16, 17; acidic soil; DFCLT.