Chamaedaphne calyculata : Cassandra

Scientific Name:

Kingdom: Plantae

Division:

• Tracheophyta (vascular)
• Spermatophyta (seed bearing)
Angiospermae (enclosed seed)

Class: Dicoteldonae (two seed-leaves)

Family: Ericaceae (Heath Family)

Genera: Chamaedaphne (Leatherleaf) (Gk. chama=dwarf + Daphne= a nymph who in mythology was changed to a laurel tree.)

Species: calyculata (Lat. diminutive of calyx; referring to the small calyx of the flowers.)

English Name(s):

Cassandra, Leatherleaf, Leatherleaf Cassandra

First Nation Names:

Structure:

• Much branched shrub, 20-60 cm high.

Leaves:

• Simple (not compound or lobed).
• 1.5-3.5 cm long by 3-15 mm wide, evergreen, alternate, leathery and dark green.
• Oblong-lanceolate or elliptic in shape.
• Often erect.
• Scurfy (with scales) especially on the underside.

Reproductive Parts:

• Flowers perfect (bisexual) and regular (symetrical).
• Pedicels (flower stalks) 1-4 mm long with 2 bracts at the base of the flower.
• Corollas (petals) white, 4.5-6.0 mm long, united to make a bell-shaped flower.
• Flowers in small one sided leafy racemes.
• Ovary 5 loculed (chambered).
• Sepals 5, separate, 2-3 mm long, broadly triangular, scaly-pubescent (hairy).
• Stamens (male parts) 10.

Seed:

• Seed a dry capsule, 3-4 mm wide, opening between the partitions of the cavities.

Not to Be Confused With:

Physiology:

Life Cycle:

• Perennial.

Seasonal Cycle:

• A leafy shoot sprouts in early summer and by mid-late summer flower buds have developed and even matured their pollen and other parts. They do not bloom though until early the next spring producing mature seeds by summer.
• Leaves are evergreen.

Animal Uses:

Habitat:

• Peaty bogs, muskeg, lake margins, and wet meadows

Modern:

Industrial:

Medicinal:

Food:

Traditional Gwich'in:

Folklore:

Industrial:

Medicinal:

Food:

Traditional Other:

Folklore:

Industrial:

Medicinal:

Food: