Chamaedaphne calyculata, known commonly as Leatherleaf or Cassandra, is a perennial dwarf shrub in the plant family Ericaceae and the only species in the genus Chamaedaphne. It has a wide distribution throughout the cool temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, from eastern North America to bogs in Finland and Japan. C. calyculata is very shade-intolerant, and does well in full sun. Nutrients are low in bogs due to low mineralization, and plants can only acquire nutrients from atmospheric sources.
It is a low-growing, upright dwarf shrub up to 1.5 m tall. The leaves are alternately arranged on the branch and elliptical to oblong shaped, 1–4 cm long and 0.5-1.5cm wide, thick and leathery, with minute scales. The leaves are a dull green color with lighter coloration on the underside, and an entire or irregularly toothed margin. They are evergreen but often turn red-brown in winter. The lower stems extend into the substrate and may persist even after fire or mild drought. The species site is mostly restricted to bogs, but also occur in shrubby fens, rock crevices, and pool margins, where they naturally form large clonal colonies.
C. calyculata flowers in April to June, and is insect pollinated. The flowers are small (5–6 mm long), white, and bell-like, produced in terminal racemes up to 12 cm long, with flowers emerging from the axils of small leaves on the raceme. The flowers have fused petals with five short lobes. The fruit is a capsule, which splits open to release seeds.
The name Chamaedaphne comes from the Greek for "ground laurel"; the common name comes from its tough, leather-like leaf.
Leatherleaf is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora ledi. It is also widely used as both an ornamental plant as well as a filler green in bouquets and arrangements. Ethnobotanically, the plant has usage as "sun-tea", a drink in which dried or fresh leaves are steeped in cool water in a sunny location. This technique is used to avoid boiling it as a traditional infusion, which carries the danger of releasing andromedotoxin (a common toxin present in plants of the family Ericaceae). Leatherleaf also has limited medicinal use among some Native American tribes as a poultice of leaves for inflammation.
Article excerpt is from Wikipedia.org under the Creative Commons License.
Image reused under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Add comment
Comments