FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Note thick, shiny, evergreen leaves with prominent mid-vein. Veins also encircling leaf margins very characteristic. Branches distinctly flattened below nodes.
Synonym(s): Desmothamnus lucidus, Neopieris nitida
Description: Small evergreen shrub, usually about 1 m tall although may reach as high as 3 m. Usually colonial in nature.
Leaves: Leathery, dark green leaves with very smooth, entire margins with marginal veins. Leaves generally elliptic, 3 to 9 cm long by 1 to 4 cm wide on flattened branches.
Flowers/Fruit: Beautiful when flowering, with clusters of pinkish (sometimes white), urn-shaped flowers arising from axis. Fruit an oval capsule, about 5 mm long. Blooms April to early June; fruits September/October.
Habit and Range: Usually found where surface water is present most of the year in pocosins, blackwater swamp forests, pine wetlands, and bay forests, mainly in the Coastal Plain.
