Western teaberry

Shrubs, spreading, not mat-forming, rhizomatous; adven-titious roots absent. Stems decumbent, branches ascending to erect, (reddish), 15-30 cm, lanate (hairs white to brownish), sometimes glabrescent. Leaf blades broadly ovate to subcordate, 2-4 cm, base rounded to cordate, margins crenulate to serrate, apex acute to, rarely, rounded, surfaces glabrous. Inflorescences axillary, solitary flowers; bracts reddish, ovate, 1-1.5 mm, not exceeding sepals, sparsely hairy. Pedicels green or red tinged, 1-1.5 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy; bracteoles 2-6 (in pairs), dark green or red tinged, ovate, 1-2 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy. Flowers: sepals 5, connate basally, reddish, ovate, 1.5-2 mm, lanate-hairy; petals 5, connate nearly their entire lengths, white to pinkish, 3-4 mm, glabrous, corolla urceolate to campanulate, lobes 1 mm; filaments conspicuously wider proximally (base with rounded, auriclelike projections), glabrous; anthers without awns, dehiscent by terminal pores. Fruits bright red, 5-7 mm wide.

Flowering late May-early Jul; fruiting Aug-Sep. Relatively dry, mixed hardwood and coniferous forests, damp streamsides and moist soils, rocky slopes; 300-1600 m; B.C.; Calif., Idaho, Mont., Oreg., Wash.