AN ILLUSTRATED KEY TO THE ERICACEAE OF ALBERTA Compiled and writen by Lorna Allen & Linda Kershaw April 2019 © Linda J. Kershaw & Lorna Allen This key was compiled using informaton primarily from Moss (1983), Douglas et. al. (1999a; 1999b) and the Flora North America Associaton (2009). Taxonomy follows VASCAN (Brouillet, 2015). The main references are listed at the end of the key. Please let us know if there are ways in which it can be improved. The 2015 S-ranks of rare species (S1; S1S2; S2; S2S3; SU, according to ACIMS, 2015) are noted in superscript (S1;S2;SU) afer the species names. For more details go to the ACIMS web site. No exotc species in this family are known to be naturalized in AB. ERICACEAE Heath Family Key to Genera 01a Plants white, yellow, red or brown (not green), without chlorophyll; leaves small or absent 02 01b Plants green, with chlorophyll; leaves present, usually well-developed ................04 02a Flowering stalks pink to reddish or brownish, 20-80 cm tall, enlarged and bulb-like at the base, sticky with gland-tipped hairs; fowers numerous, in 10-30 cm long, elongating clusters (racemes); petals fused in an urn- shaped corolla; anthers with 2 awns; capsules 2a nodding ......... Pterospora andromedea 02b Flowering stalks white or yellowish to orange or reddish, 10-30 cm tall, neither sticky nor 3a with an enlarged base; fowers single or in small clusters; petals separate; anthers without awns; capsules erect ...........03 03a Stems waxy-white (rarely pink), blackish when dried; fowers 14-17 mm long, solitary; sepals similar to bracts; capsule segments stout, persistent ...........Monotropa unifora 03b Stems yellow, pink or reddish; fowers <14 mm long, few to many (rarely 1); sepals not similar to bracts; capsule segments thin, some shed 4a with age ..........Hypopitys monotropa ................[Monotropa hypopitys] 04a Leaves generally <10 mm long, needle-like or scale-like; fruits capsules or feshy, black and berry-like (drupes); small shrubs ........05 04b Leaves generally >10 mm long, neither needle-like nor scale-like; fruits not black and 5a feshy; herbs or shrubs, large or small ....08 05a Sepals 3; petals (0)3; stamens 3; fruits black, berry-like drupes; leaves needle-like, attached in spirals or rings (whorls) Empetrum nigrum 05b Sepals 4-5; petals 4-5; stamens ≥5; fruits dry capsules; leaves alternate or opposite, not spirally arranged .....................06 6a 06a Leaves paired (opposite), pressed to the stem, 2-6 mm long, scale like, not rolled under on the edges; fowers single in leaf axils; anthers awned, open at the tip by 2 pores. .Cassiope 06b Leaves paired or alternate, blades >5 mm long, with down-rolled edges; fowers clustered 7a in leaf axils; anthers without awns, opening lengthwise or by pores at the tip .........07 07a Leaves alternate, needle-like, 6-15 mm long; fowers spreading or nodding on long, slender 7b stalks; stamens usually 10; anthers opening at the tip by 2 pores ............Phyllodoce 07b Leaves mostly paired, narrowly oval, 4-8 mm long; fowers erect on short stalks; stamen 5; anthers splitting open lengthwise .......... ................Kalmia procumbens S2 ..............[Loiseleuria procumbens] 3 08a Herbs or subshrubs; stems unbranched; 9a leaves basal (or appearing so) ..........09 08b Shrubs or subshrubs; stems often branched; leaves alternate on the stem (rarely paired or whorled) ...........................11 09a Flowers solitary, nodding, waxy white ....... ..................... Moneses unifora 09b Flowers (1)2-29, variously colored .......10 10a Flowers turned to 1 side of stem, bell-shaped, radially symmetric, relatively inconspicuous; petals closed, 4-5 mm long, with 2 tiny, wart- like bumps at the base ....Orthilia secunda 10b Flowers arranged around the stem, saucer- shaped, somewhat bilaterally symmetric, usually showy; petals spreading, (4)5-7(8) mm long, without bumps at the base .....Pyrola 10a 11a Petals separate or joined ≤1/4 their length; 10b fowers few to many (rarely solitary) in umbrella-shaped clusters at stem tips; leaves green through the winter ...............12 11b Petals clearly fused, joined ≥1/3 their length; fowers at stem tips or in leaf axils; leaves wintergreen or shed in the fall. .13 12a Leaves usually in whorls of 3-5, lance- 12a shaped, 2-7 cm long, hairless, with sharply 12b toothed edges, shiny above, paler and smooth beneath ...........Chimaphila umbellata 12b Leaves alternate, oblong to elliptic, 1-4(5) cm long, with smooth, usually down-rolled edges, dull above, resinous-scaly and/or hairy beneath . Rhododendron (in part) [Ledum] 13a Flower parts attached above the ovaries; fruits feshy berries ................Vaccinium 13b Flower parts attached below the ovaries; fruits feshy or dry ........................14 14a 14a Flowers solitary, on 0.5-3 mm stalks in leaf axils, often hidden by the leaves; fruits white or scarlet, berry-like capsules, each enclosed in a feshy calyx; leaves aromatic when crushed ...........................Gaultheria 13a 14b Flowers in clusters (rarely solitary); fruits various, not as above; leaves not aromatic 15 15a Fruits berry-like drupes; stems creeping, sprawling or tufted; leaves broad and rounded at the tip, gradually tapered to a wedge-shaped base ..............................16 16a 15b Fruits capsules; stems erect or matted; leaves not as above, oval or elliptic to oblong or linear ..............................17 16a Leaves turn bright red and are shed in autumn, thin, conspicuously veined, fnely toothed; fruits juicy; branchlets hairless Arctous rubra ................[Arctostaphylos rubra] 16b Leaves evergreen, leathery, inconspicuously veined, smooth edged; fruits dry and mealy; 16b branchlets hairy ..Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 4 17a Leaves with a pale bluish-white coating (at least above), neither hairy nor scaly (sometimes with a few small hairs), rolled under along the edges .............................18 18b 17b Leaves without a pale coating, hairy or scaly (sometimes densely so), with or without down- rolled edges ........................19 18a Leaves paired (opposite), egg-shaped to 18a oval, veins on upper surface not sunken and obvious; fowers saucer-shaped, 6-12 mm wide; anthers blunt-tipped, held in small pockets in the petals and springing free at maturity .................Kalmia (in part) 18b Leaves alternate, linear to narrowly elliptic with obvious, sunken veins on upper surface; fowers urn-shaped, 5-7 mm long; anthers tipped with 2 horns/bristles, free of the petals 19a ..................Andromeda polifolia 19a Leaves covered in silvery, brownish, straw to rust-coloured scales; fowers hairless (outside), turned to one side in elongating clusters (racemes) with leafy bracts; anthers tipped with 2 hollow tubules .............. .............Chamaedaphne calyculata 19b Leaves green, without scales; fowers densely hairy to hairless, in small, umbrella-shaped clusters; anthers without tubules ........20 20a 20a Leaves edged with small teeth, thin, shed in autumn; fowers urn-shaped, 6-10 mm long, 20a with parts in 4s; bark shedding ............ .................. Menziesia ferruginea 20b Leaves smooth edged, thick and evergreen or thin and shed; fowers cup-shaped, 1-2 cm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - across, with parts in 5s; bark not shredding . ................Rhododendron (in part) CASSIOPE Mountain-heather 01a Leaf blades deeply grooved on the back .... ................... Cassiope tetragona 01b Leaf blades not grooved but keeled on the 1a 1b back .............Cassiope mertensiana - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GAULTHERIA Wintergreen 01a Stems densely covered in fat-lying straight, stiff, reddish hairs; leaf blades 3-10 mm long; fowers in 4 parts; anthers with 2 awns that each divide into two branches; fruits white. 1b .................. Gaultheria hispidula 1a 01b Stems usually minutely hairy, sometimes hairless; leaf blades 10-25 mm; fowers in 5 parts, anthers without awns; fruits red. ..... ..................Gaultheria humifusa 5 1a KALMIA Laurel 01a Sprawling much-branched shrub, lying ± fat on the ground; stamens 5; fruiting capsules with 2-3 cavities ..... Kalmia procumbens ..............[Loiseleuria procumbens] 01b Spreading to erect shrub; stamens 10; capsules with 5- cavities ...............02 02a Erect shrub usually 30-75(100) cm high; leaves with purple, club shaped hairs along the midrib on both surfaces; seeds 1.5-2.2 mm 2a long ................... Kalmia polifolia 02b Spreading to erect shrub 10-29(50) cm tall; leaf midribs hairless, without purple, club 2b shaped hairs; seeds 0.5-1.4 mm long. ...................Kalmia microphylla - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PHYLLODOCE Mountainheath 01a Corolla rose-colored to scarlet, bell-shaped; sepals egg-shaped in outline, blunt, without glands .........Phyllodoce empetriformis 01b Corolla yellowish, urn-shaped, constricted at the throat; sepals lance-shaped, sharply pointed, glandular-hairy ................. ...............Phyllodoce glandulifora 1a 1b - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PYROLA Wintergreen 01a Styles straight, (0.5)0.8-1.5(1.8) mm long, neither thickened near the tip nor protruding conspicuously from the fower; anthers 0.8-1.4 mm, without small tubes ......Pyrola minor 01b Styles bent downward from the base, 4-10 mm long, thickened to a collar at the tip, protruding 1a conspicuously from the fower; anthers (1.6)2.2-5.5 mm, tipped with small tubes . .02 02a Flower bracts ≥ the adjacent fower stalk in 3a length (sometimes shorter in P. asarifolia);