Distribution
Andorra, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America

Circumpolar. Alpine slopes and cold, dry areas at high elevations. (Ikeda et al. 2017)

GBIF.org (5th February 2018) GBIF Occurrence Download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.gkfuky

Diffusely branched, dwarf evergreen shrub, trailing on the ground without rooting at the nodes. Stems 5-30 cm long, hairless or minutely hairy. Leaves with partially clasping stalks, opposite; blades leathery, bright green, narrowly elliptic, 3-8 x 1-3 mm, hairless above, short hairs below, with revolute margins. Flowers 2-6, light to deep pink, clustered in axils of upper stem leaves, erect on short stalks 1-10 mm long, straight or curved. Corolla bell-shaped, 5-lobed, 4-5 mm long. Calyx red, 1.5-2.5 mm long, hairless, persistent. Stamens 5, anthers unawned, opening full length by slits. Fruits: Ovoid capsules 3-5 x 2-3 mm. Identifiable July to August. (Douglas et al. 2002)