Epigaea L.

Plants functionally dioecious, the fls 5-merous, either pistillate, with vestigial stamens, or apparently perfect but with unexpanded stigmas and functionally staminate; each fl closely subtended by 2 ovate bracts nearly or quite as long as the cal; sep distinct to the base, strongly imbricate; cor salverform, the thick tube densely pubescent within, the lobes oblong-ovate; stamens included; filaments slender, hairy below; anthers linear, awnless, opening longitudinally; ovary villous above; style slender; stigma 5-lobed; capsule fleshy, depressed-globose, at length 5-valved, subtended by the persistent cal and bracts, white-pulpy within; prostrate, creeping, evergreen shrub, with leathery, alternate lvs and conspicuous, pink to white, fragrant fls in short, crowded, terminal and axillary spikes. 3, the others in Japan, Caucasus, and Asia Minor.