Synonyms: Buxella brachycera.
The natural range of Box Huckleberry is "essentially the Mid-Atlantic region, occurring in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee. It occurs in all physiographic provinces throughout its range, though is known only from the coastal plain of Delaware and Maryland (see Pooler et al. 2006)" (Simmons, 2013).
In Maryland this globally rare huckleberry is known from only one location in Anne Arundel County. According to the Maryland Heritage Program, "Endangered by habitat loss [in the] long-term and excessive animal browse in the near term. Known from a single site that has been extant for over 100 years. [The current site was] described by Plitt (1900) as a large field with encroaching pines. [The site is] currently forested and long-altered by fire suppression and suburban sprawl." A multi-acre stand in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, area was visited in 2009 by participants in a Maryland Native Plant Society field trip (Native News p. 3, 2009).
Preferred habit is dry sandy woods.
Box Huckleberry is a dwarf, evergreen shrub that forms extensive, self-sterile colonies. It is easily distinguished from other heaths by its "boxwood" type leaves that have no resinous dots and are small (1" long), glossy, and evergreen.
There are 21 records in the project database.
| GA | AL | WA | FR | CL | MO | HO | BA | BC | HA | CE | PG | AA | CV | CH | SM | KE | QA | CN | TA | DO | WI | SO | WO |
