{{Short description|Species of flowering plant in the heath family}} {{About|the plant with common names including '''white Arctic mountain heather''' and '''Arctic white heather'''|the plant with common name '''white mountain heather'''|Cassiope mertensiana}} {{More citations needed|date=October 2013}} {{Speciesbox |image = Rohkunborri-Cassiope-Tetragona.jpg |status = G5 |status_system = TNC |status_ref = <ref name=natureserve>{{Cite NatureServe|date=6 December 2024|id=2.139985|title=''Cassiope tetragona'' | NatureServe Explorer|access-date=23 December 2024}}</ref> |genus = Cassiope |species = tetragona |authority = ([[L.]]) [[David Don|D.Don]] |synonyms = *''Andromeda tetragona'' {{Small|L.}} |synonyms_ref = <ref name=POWO>{{Cite POWO|id=1043713-2|title=''Cassiope tetragona'' (L.) D.Don | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science|access-date=23 December 2024}}</ref> |subdivision_ranks = Subspecies |subdivision_ref = <ref name=POWO /> |subdivision = *''C. tetragona'' subsp. ''tetragona'' {{small|[[autonym (botany)|autonym]]}} *''C. tetragona'' subsp. ''saximontana'' {{small|(Small) A.E.Porsild}} }}
'''''Cassiope tetragona''''' ([[common name]]s include '''Arctic bell-heather''', '''white Arctic mountain heather''' and '''Arctic white heather''') is a plant native to the high [[Arctic]] and northern [[Norway]], where it is found widely.
Growing to 10–20 cm in height, it is a strongly branched dwarf [[shrub]]. The [[leaf|leaves]] are grooved, [[evergreen]], and scale-like in four rows. [[Pedicel (botany)|Pedicel]]s are long and arched. The plant bears bell-shaped, solitary [[flower]]s usually with white and pink lobes and pink [[anther]]s. The flower stalks and [[sepal]]s are red, but the [[petal]]s may also be yellowish-white. The [[anther]]s can also be brownish-yellow and flower stalks and [[sepal]]s yellowish-green. [[File:Arctic bell-heather.jpg|thumb|left|Arctic bell-heather]]
It grows on ridges and heaths, often in abundance and forming a distinctive and attractive plant community.
In [[Greenland]], indigenous peoples use the plant as important source of [[fuel]]. Because of high [[resin]] content, it burns even when wet.<ref>John 'Lofty' Wiseman ''SAS Survival Handbook, Revised Edition'' p. 72; William Morrow Paperbacks (2008) {{ISBN|978-1875900060}}</ref>
The plant can also be used in cooking. Canadian chef Louis Charest used arctic heather as a smoked herb for the 2016 Three Amigos Summit state dinner.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/rideau-hall-chef-cooking-up-a-coast-to-coast-dinner-for-three-amigos-summit/article30637464/|title=Rideau Hall chef cooking up a coast-to-coast dinner for Three Amigos summit|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=27 June 2016|access-date=2016-06-28|last1=Stone|first1=Laura}}</ref> {{clear}}
==See also== *[[Flora of Svalbard]]
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Commons}} {{Wikispecies}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2062718}}
[[Category:Ericaceae]] [[Category:Flora of Eastern Canada]] [[Category:Flora of Eastern Europe]] [[Category:Flora of Northern Europe]] [[Category:Flora of Siberia]] [[Category:Flora of Subarctic America]] [[Category:Flora of the Russian Far East]] [[Category:Flora of Western Canada]]