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Leatherleaf

Leatherleaf

Chamaedaphne calyculata

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How common: Common

Leatherleaf is a low, evergreen bog shrub, usually 20–50 cm tall. It grows in peat bogs and other wet, acidic places across the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere. In spring it shows long, arching strings of small white, jug‑shaped flowers. All parts are poisonous.

Did you know?

  • Leatherleaf is the only species in its genus.
  • Its thick leaves stay on through winter, and their edges roll under to reduce water loss in cold winds.

About the species

Identification

Low, many‑branched evergreen shrub 20–50 cm. Stems upright. Leaves 1–4 cm, narrow oval, thick and leathery, dull green above, rusty brown beneath; edges rolled under. At shoot tips in spring, a long, arching cluster holds many small, nodding white flowers; each about 5–6 mm, like a tiny jug with five small teeth. Later small dry seed cases. How to tell: compared with bog‑rosemary, leatherleaf has broader leaves with brown undersides and white, not pink, flowers. Labrador tea has woolly leaf undersides and flat white flower heads, not jugs. Flowers in Finland in May–June.

Plant group

Dwarf shrubs

Habitat

mire

Toxicity

A poisonous plant – do not taste it. Source: HUS Poison Information Centre (Finland), tel. 0800 147 111.

Flowering

May–Jun

About the habitat

Grows on soggy, acidic peatlands: raised bogs, open fens and boggy lake shores; in northern areas it may also occur in open pine woods. Native up to central Lapland; most common in eastern Finland and in Central Ostrobothnia and Oulu Ostrobothnia; more scattered elsewhere.

Sources

Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chamaedaphne calyculata kz08.jpg

Text: Pinkka: Suomen puuvartiset - Koppisiemeniset. Lähteet: Väre, H., Saarinen, J., Kurtto, A. & Hämet-Ahti, L. (toim.) 2021: Suomen puu- ja pensaskasvio. 3. täysin uudistettu p. – Publications of the Finnish Dendrological Society 10: 1–552 s., CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38616

Text: Pinkka: Kasvien talvi - Talvivihreät luonnonkasvit, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38616

Text: Pinkka (Luomus), CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38616

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaivero

See also