松毛翠 song mao cui

Andromeda caerulea Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 393. 1753; Phyllodoce taxifolia Salisbury, nom. illeg. superfl.

Shrubs 10–30(–40) cm tall, prostrate to erect, much branched. Branchlets slender, leafy, glabrous. Leaves alternate; petiole ca. 0.5 mm; leaf blade linear, (5–)7(–10) × ca. 1.2 mm, adaxially with prominent midvein, base broadly cuneate, margin slightly serrulate, glabrous, apex obtuse. Inflorescence clustered, (1–)2–5(–6)-flowered; bracts 2, persistent; pedicels somewhat recurved, reddish, ca. 2 cm in flower, elongating to 4 cm in fruit, glandular-hairy. Calyx red-purple, glandular-pilose; lobes not deflexed in flower, lanceolate, 3–4(–5.5) mm. Corolla red or bluish rose, urceolate, 7–8(–11) mm, sparsely glandular-hairy outside. Stamens 10, included; anthers purple. Style slightly shorter than corolla tube; stigma capitate. Capsule globose, 3–4 mm. Fl. Jun–Jul, fr. Aug.

Subalpine scrub, alpine meadows, grasslands, stony tundra, rocks. Jilin, Nei Mongol, Xinjiang [Japan, Korea, Russia; Europe, North America].