FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Small, tough ascending leaves with prominent pores on fronts and backs of leaves help identify this shrub, which does not grow very tall.
Synonym(s): Cassandra calyculata
Description: Small evergreen shrub with ascending stems and small, textured, tough leaves.
Leaves: Small (2.5 to 3.5 cm long) leaves are narrow elliptical shape or obovate, with entire or very slightly toothed margins that are rolled inward slightly. Leaves are quite thick and are textured with small dots on entire surface. Leaf undersides appear white.
Flowers/Fruit: Flowers are small, white, and urn-shaped, arranged in a row along the ends of leafy stems. Fruits are brown, dry, splitting capsules. Flowers March and April; fruits July to October.
Habit and Range: Locally abundant in pocosin centers, and wet acidic areas near pocosins in the outer Coastal Plain and into the Sandhills area. A disjunct population is found in one mountain bog location.
