Pyxidanthera barbulata. Order Diapensiacea.
Stems. - Prostrate and creeping, branching. Leaves. - Narrowly lance-shaped, awl-pointed. Flowers. - White or pink, small, numerous. Calyx. - Of five sepals. Corolla. - Five-lobed. Stamens. - Five. Pistil. - One, with a three-lobed stigma.
Pyxie Moss is a diminutive, creeping evergreen shrub. Leaves are needle-like.
In early spring we may look for the white flowers of this moss-like plant, in the sandy pinewoods of New Jersey and southward. At Lakewood they appear even before those of the trailing arbutus which grows in the same localities. The generic name is from two Greek words which signify a small box and anther, and refers to the anthers, which open as if by a lid.
Flower stalks are extremely short or missing. Pyxie Moss forms mats or cushions along the ground.