Leatherleaf
Chamaedaphne calyculata
Leatherleaf forms the low woody mat that carpets northern peat bogs, its small scurfy evergreen leaves diminishing toward the stem tips where rows of white urn flowers hang in earliest spring. Extremely cold-hardy and demanding of acid, permanently wet peat — it will not accept ordinary garden soil.
- Family
- Ericaceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 4–4 ft
- Spacing
- 3–5 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- wet
- Soil pH
- acidic
- Bloom
- April, May
- Bloom colors
- white
- Wildlife value
- pollinators
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~15 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- rain garden, naturalizing, groundcover
- Native states
- AK, CT, DE, IA, IL, IN, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, VT, WI, WV