Corème de Conrad

Empetrum conradii Torrey, Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 4: 83. 1837; Tuckermaniaconradii (Torrey) Klotzsch

Plants diffusely branched, 15-60 cm; bark gray to orange-red, exfoliating on older branches. Leaves 2-4 per node; petiole appressed to ascending, tan to red, 0.4-0.7 mm; blade yellow-green, linear, 3-6 × 0.5-0.8 mm, base acute to rounded, apex obtuse, surfaces minutely glandular-hairy to glabrate, abaxial surface with prominent longitudinal groove. Inflorescences: bracts 1[-3] per flower, sessile, ovate, 1-1.5 mm; bracteoles absent. Flowers subsessile; sepals persistent, imbricate, reddish purple, ovate, 1.5-2.3 × 0.7-1.5 mm, margins erose; filaments 2-4 mm; anthers reddish purple, 1 mm; pistils reddish purple, 1.3-1.6 mm; ovary ovoid, 0.6-0.8 mm; style 1-2 mm; stigmas 0.5-1 mm. Drupes gray, 1-1.5 mm. 2n = 26.

Flowering Apr-Aug. Sandy and rocky siliceous soils, pine barrens, sand hills, rocky hilltops, coastal habitats; 0-700 m; N.S., P.E.I., Que.; Maine, Mass., N.J., N.Y.

Corema conradii occurs in small, disjunct populations along the Atlantic coastal plain and in the interior uplands of northeastern North America. Seeds are dispersed primarily by ants (P. W. Dunwoodie 1990), and postfire seedling emergence appears to be critical in the life history of the species (C. T. Martine et al. 2005). It is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.