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1,780 bytes added ,  15:29, 28 November 2007
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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Chamaedaphne calyculata''
| image= Chamaedaphne cal 060926c.jpg
| regnum = [[Plantae]]
| divisio = [[Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Ericales]]
| familia = [[Ericaceae]]
| genus = '''''Chamaedaphne'''''
| genus_authority = [[Conrad Moench|Moench]]
| species = '''''C. calyculata'''''
| binomial = ''Chamaedaphne calyculata''
| binomial_authority = ([[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]) Moench
}}

The '''Leather leaf''' (''Chamaedaphne calyculata'') is a [[shrub]] in the plant family [[Ericaceae]] and the only species in the genus '''''Chamaedaphne'''''. It has a wide distribution throughout the cool temperate and subarctic regions of the [[Northern Hemisphere]].

It is a low-growing [[shrub]] up to 1.5 m tall. The [[leaf|leaves]] are alternately arranged on the branch and elliptical to oblong shaped, 3–4 cm long, with minute scales and lighter coloration on the underside, and an entire or irregularly toothed margin. They are [[evergreen]] but often turn red-brown in winter. The [[flower]]s are small (5–6 mm long), white, and bell-like, produced in [[panicle]]s up to 12 cm long. The species site is restricted to bogs, where they naturally form large [[clonal colony|clonal colonies]].

The name ''Chamaedaphne'' comes from the latin for "ground laurel"; the common name comes from its tough, leather-like leaf.

Leather leaf is used as a food plant by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species including ''[[Coleophora|Coleophora ledi]]''.

==References==
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=220002665 Flora of China: ''Chamaedaphne'']
*[http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/shrubs/chamaedaphne.html Natural history of the northwoods: ''Chamaedaphne'']

[[Category:Ericaceae]]
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