Cascade Azaela

Appearance

General: Deciduous shrubs 1-2 m. tall, the young twigs finely puberulent and covered with stiff, aligned reddish hairs, this same hairiness present on young leaves, bracts and calyx.
Leaves: Leaves thin, deep, clear green on the upper surface, lighter beneath, elliptic-oblanceolate, nearly entire, frequently clustered toward the branch tips, 4-9 cm. long on petioles 5-10 mm. long.
Flowers: Flowers in axillary clusters of 1-4 along the stems, white to ochroleucous; pedicels 1-1.5 cm. long, glandular pubescent and covered with coarse, stiff reddish hairs; sepals 5, distinct, leaf-like, pubescent with coarse, gland-tipped hairs and appressed, eglandular, reddish hairs; corolla united, 1.5-2 cm. broad, 5-lobed about the length, the lobes spreading, nearly equal, entire; stamens 10, exerted, the filaments densely hairy on the lower half; ovary superior, long-hairy.
Fruits: Capsule 5-celled, pubescent, short.

Distribution

British Columbia to Oregon, east to Montana

Habitat

Moist, usually forested, slopes, mid- to high elevations in the mountains