Description

General - low, branched shrub, usually under 20 cm tall, forms mats or low mounds; branchlets greyish green, with whitish hairs, almost hidden by close-pressed, scale-like leaves; older stems grey to reddish brown.

Leaves - alternate, simple, evergreen, egg- to lance-shaped, overlap like shingles, almost scale-like, 2 - 4 mm long, densely grey-hairy.

Flowers - many, crowded near branch tips, 5-parted; 5 bright yellow petals surrounded by hairy calyx; outer 2 sepals are much shorter than inner 3; appearing late June and July.

Fruit - smooth, egg-shaped, few-seeded capsules, surrounded by calyx, which remains after flowering.

Habitat

Sand dunes, sandy pine woods and clearings; occurring in western NW Ontario boreal forest, through southern Manitoba, across Saskatchewan and Alberta, north to Lake Athabasca and Great Slave Lake.

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