DACF Home → Bureaus & Programs → Maine Natural Areas Program → Communities, Plants, and Animals → Rare Plants → Harrimanella hypnoides
Harrimanella hypnoides (L.) Coville
Moss Bell-heather
- State Rank: S1
- Global Rank: G5
- State Status: Threatened
Habitat: Mossy alpine areas. [Alpine or subalpine (non-forested, upland)]
Range: Circumboreal, south to the alpine areas of Newfoundland, Quebec, Maine, and New Hampshire.
Aids to Identification: This moss-like plant has short (2-4 mm) needle-shaped leaves. The bell-shaped white or pink flowers are nodding, and they grow on erect stalks 5-20 mm in length.
Ecological characteristics: All known Maine populations occur above treeline on Katahdin. The plant is most abundant below the lip of the Tableland, in the snowbank communities.
Phenology: Flowers June - August.
Family: Ericaceae
Synonyms: Cassiope hypnoides (L.) D. Don.
Known Distribution in Maine: This rare plant has been documented from a total of 1 town(s) in the following county(ies): Piscataquis.
Reason(s) for rarity: Arctic species which is disjunct from its principal range.
Conservation considerations: Populations could be threatened by heavy recreational (hiking) use.