Gaultheria cardiosepala Hand.-Mazz.

Shrubs, sometimes prostrate, 4–14(–20) cm tall, much branched below. Twigs terete, brown hispidulous. Leaves dense; petiole ca. 1 mm; leaf blade linear to oblong-linear, 0.5–1.6 cm × 1–4 mm, leathery, glabrous, rarely adaxially puberulous on midvein, secondary and fine veins inconspicuous, base cuneate, decurrent, margin serrulate, apex obtuse to acute. Flowers solitary, axillary, glabrous. Pedicel ca. 1 mm; bracts absent; bracteoles 2, apical, broadly ovate, ca. 2 mm, leathery, glabrous. Calyx lobes ovate, ca. 3 mm, base slightly cordate. Corolla white, oblong-urceolate, 4–5 mm; lobes often erect, oblong, very short. Stamens ca. 1.5 mm; filaments spindle-shaped, papillate; thecae 2-awned. Ovary glabrous. Calyx at fruiting usually white, rarely blue or pale purple; capsule globose, 7–8 mm in diam. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Jul–Oct.

W Yunnan [Myanmar].

Rhododendron forests, rocks in forests, thickets, thicket margins, alpine grasslands; 2000–3500(–3800) m.