Pyxidanthera

Subshrubs, creeping, mat-forming, caulescent, rhizomatous, from adventitiously rooted, slender, woody stems. Stems: main stems mostly prostrate to decumbent, branched; branches prostrate to decumbent. Leaves cauline, alternate, often densely congested, 2-7(-10) mm; petiole absent; blade narrowly oblanceolate to lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, margins entire, apex acute, minutely apiculate, surfaces glabrous or hairy, appearing 1-veined. Inflorescences solitary flowers, usually at tips of short, leafy branches, sessile. Flowers: sepals connate proximally; petals connate in proximal 2/5-1/2, corolla rotate, 2-5 mm, lobes white, margins entire or slightly erose; anthers 2-locular, basally spurred, transversely dehiscent; filaments adnate to corolla tube; staminodes absent. x = 6.

Sep distinct; cor broadly campanulate, the obovate lobes exceeding the tube; stamens 5, adnate to the cor to the sinuses; filaments broad and flat, much shorter than the cor-lobes; anthers inflexed, the 2 pollen-sacs parallel, acute, opening by transverse slits; style slender; stigma rounded; branched, prostrate, evergreen subshrubs with small, alternate or fascicled, crowded lvs and numerous sessile fls solitary at the ends of short branches. Monospecific.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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