The most likely candidate for ancestor is a white-flowered D. purpurea[1] The plants grow on exposed rocky ridges that are kept free from snow by high winds.

It is a small cushion-forming evergreen perennial shrub, up to 15 centimetres (6 in) in height, and can trap heat in the dome.

It could be aged by counting growth-rings or clump diameter, and on this basis, many Canadian plants are thought to live to over a century or two.

[6] In places such as Newfoundland two blooming periods exist on different plants: early June and (more frequently) August.

The Encyclopaedia Londinensis of John Wilkes suggested that term is from Greek,"deeply grieving or mourning; probably from its situation".

Here, the species occurs on acidic soil among stones on the ridge between the summit of Sgùrr an Utha and the adjoining hill called Fraoch-bheinn, at 760–780 metres (2,490–2,560 ft) above sea-level.

[14] A photograph of the plant by Robert Moyes Adam taken on 14 June 1952 (soon after the initial discovery) is held by the St Andrews University Library.