Phyllodoce empetriformis

Klamath mountain heather

Family: Ericaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Klamath mountain heather is a California native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges and northern California Ranges around Mount Shasta in moist subalpine meadows and slopes at elevations of 1,450 to 2,650 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces delicate pink to rose-purple flowers with short tube-like corollas and small lobes. Growing as a compact shrub 10 to 30 centimeters tall with fine, closely packed branches, it forms dense low-growing mats in alpine and subalpine environments. Its small, narrow leaves are evergreen, appearing crowded and needle-like along the slender stems. In its native habitat, this heather creates intricate ground-hugging patches that provide important vegetation cover in high-elevation mountain landscapes.

Habitat: Moist slopes, meadows, subalpine

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 1450-2650 m

Bioregions: KR, n CaRH (Mount Shasta)

California counties: Trinity, Siskiyou, Shasta, Humboldt, Del Norte, Tehama

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.