Empetrum eamesii explained

Empetrum eamesii, common name purple crowberry, is a North American species of dwarf evergreen shrub.

Description

The species forms a low-lying shrub with prostrate stems, forming a mat on the ground. Leaves are alternate or in whorls. Flowers are solitary near the tips of branches, each with 3 white petals. Fruits are spherical, pink or red in subsp. earnsii, purple to reddish-purple in subsp. atropurpureum.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

Taxonomy

All the United States and some of the Canadian material belongs to E. eamesii subsp. atropurpureum (Fernald & Wiegand) D.Löve, which has been regarded as a separate species by some authorities but not others.^[8]

Distribution and habitat

It is native to eastern Canada and the northeastern US. It has been reported from sand dunes, rocky outcrops, and alpine heath in Québec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York State, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Minnesota (Cook County), Newfoundland & Labrador and St. Pierre & Miquelon.

Notes and References

1. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250065676 Flora of North America v 8 p 488.
2. http://www.tropicos.org/ImageFullView.aspx?imageid=79574 photo of isotype of Empetrum eamesii at Missouri Botanical Garden
3. Boivin, Joseph Robert Bernard. 1966. Le Naturaliste Canadien 93(4): 433.
4. Good, Ronald d'Oyley. 1927. Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany 47(317): 519.
5. Cronquist, Arthur John. 1991. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada (ed. 2) 864.
6. Web site: Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society . 2014-03-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120423214532/http://www.nswildflora.ca/species/Ericaceae/EmpEamesii/species.html . 2012-04-23 . dead .
7. http://nativeplants.evergreen.ca/search/view-plant.php?ID=00973 Evergreen Native Plant Database
8. http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=emea USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Plants profile, Empetrum eamesii