Cassiope tetragona

Cassiope tetragona (common names include Arctic bell-heather, white Arctic mountain heather and Arctic white heather) is a plant native to the high Arctic and northern Norway, where it is found widely.

This article is about the plant with common names including white Arctic mountain heather and Arctic white heather. For the plant with common name white mountain heather, see Cassiope mertensiana.

Cassiope tetragona
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Cassiope
Species:
C. tetragona
Binomial name
Cassiope tetragona

Growing to 10–20 cm in height, it is a strongly branched dwarf shrub. The leaves are grooved, evergreen, and scale-like in four rows. Pedicels are long and arched. The plant bears bell-shaped, solitary flowers usually with white and pink lobes and pink anthers. The flower stalks and sepals are red, but the petals may also be yellowish-white. The anthers can also be brownish-yellow and flower stalks and sepals yellowish-green.

Arctic bell-heather

It grows on ridges and heaths, often in abundance and forming a distinctive and attractive plant community.

In Greenland, indigenous peoples use the plant as important source of fuel. Because of high resin content, it burns even when wet.[1]

The plant can also be used in cooking. Canadian chef Louis Charest used arctic heather as a smoked herb for the 2016 Three Amigos Summit state dinner.[2]

See also

References
  1. John 'Lofty' Wiseman SAS Survival Handbook, Revised Edition p. 72; William Morrow Paperbacks (2008) ISBN 978-1875900060
  2. "Rideau Hall chef cooking up a coast-to-coast dinner for Three Amigos summit". Retrieved 2016-06-28.
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