This heather is native to subalpine areas of western North America, from Alaska to the mountains of California.

[1] Cassiope mertensiana has short, erect, snakelike stems that are covered in tiny leathery scalelike leaves only a few millimeters long.

From between the layers of scale leaves emerge reddish pedicels each bearing a petite, hanging, down-facing, bell-shaped flower.

Although the shrub tends to grow in areas where there is a lot of accumulation of snow, adequate rain precipitation is needed for the continued growth of Cassiope Mertensiana.

THE DENDROCLIMATOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF AN ALPINE SHRUB, CASSIOPE MERTENSIANA, FROM MOUNT RAINIER, WA, USA.