[2] The lower stems extend into sphagnum, peat moss, or other substrate, and may persist even after fire or mild drought.

Chamaedaphne calyculata has a circumboreal distribution throughout the cool temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere from eastern North America to bogs in Finland and Japan.

The species site is mostly restricted to bogs, but also occur in shrubby fens, rock crevices, and pool margins.

Ethnobotanically, the plant has usage as "sun-tea," a drink in which dried or fresh leaves are steeped in cool water in a sunny location.

This technique is used to avoid boiling it as a traditional infusion, which carries the danger of releasing andromedotoxin, a common toxin present in plants of the family Ericaceae.