A deciduous shrub 3 to 6 ft (sometimes more) high, with erect angled stems and glabrous young shoots. Leaves alternate, oblanceolate or narrowly oval, 1 to 2 in. long, 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. wide; tapered gradually to a stalkless base, abruptly narrowed to a point at the apex, entire, perfectly glabrous on both surfaces. Flowers produced in June, mostly solitary from the axils of the uppermost leaves and the end of the shoot, 3⁄4 to 1 in. across. Sepals five, narrow oblong, persistent, green; petals five, spreading, broader and rather longer than the sepals, rosy in the centre, yellowish at the margins; stamens ten, spreading, the stalks flattened towards the base; style 3⁄8 in. long, decurved, persistent; flower-stalk 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. long.
Native of Alaska, British Columbia, etc.; discovered in Sitka Island in 1828; introduced by T. Smith, of Newry. It is a neat shrub, suitable for a peaty situation in the rock garden.