A dwarf evergreen 6 to 12 in. high, forming dense tufts in the wild state; stems erect, squarish, densely clothed and completely hidden by four rows of closely overlapping leaves. Leaves stalkless, 3⁄16 in. long, lance-shaped, deeply furrowed at the back, dark green, but with thin, silvery, membranous margins edged with fine hairs. Flowers produced in April and May singly from the leaf-axils. Corolla widely bell-shaped, 3⁄8 in. across, white; calyx of five narrow, lance-shaped, pointed divisions; flower-stalk decurved, 1⁄4 in. long, downy. Bot. Mag., t. 4796.
Native of the Himalaya, common at elevations of 10,000 to 14,000 ft; introduced about 1849. It is similar in general aspect to the commoner C. tetragona, but its leaves are not so closely flattened to the stem, and its flowers are larger, wider, and more open-mouthed. It is the prettiest of the cassiopes.
A form with larger flowers was introduced by Ludlow and Sherriff from Bhutan in 1949.