NC Native Plant Society:
Plant Details

Pyxidanthera barbulata

Scientific Name:	Pyxidanthera barbulata
Genus:	Pyxidanthera
Species Epithet:	barbulata
Common Name:	Common Pyxie-moss, Big Pyxie
Plant Type	Shrub
Life Cycle	Perennial
Plant Family	Diapensiaceae (Diapensia Family)
Native/Alien:	NC Native
Size:	0-1 ft.
Bloom Color(s):	White, Pink
Light:	Sun - 6 or more hours of sun per day, Part Shade - 2 to 6 hours of sun per day
Soil Moisture:	Moist, Wet
Bloom Time:	March, April
Growing Area:	Sandhills, Coastal Plain
Habitat Description:	Pine savannas, pine flatwoods, pocosin margins, edges of sandhill seepage bogs, primarily in mesic to hydric sites, in wet sands and peaty sands, occasionally extending to submesic sands, but generally with a permanently or seasonally high water table, often with Sphagnum. ...In the Sandhills, where its range overlaps P. brevifolia, P. barbulata is limited to seepage areas or pocosin ecotones, while P. brevifolia occurs in xeric situations far upslope (Weakley 2015).
Leaf Arrangement:	Alternate
Leaf Retention:	Evergreen
Leaf Type:	Leaves veined, not needle-like or scale-like
Leaf Form:	Simple
Life Cycle:	Perennial
Wildlife Value:	Has some wildlife value
Landscape Value:	Not Recommended for home landscapes
In bloom Common Pyxie-moss is a tiny evergreen subshrub which, when not in bloom, looks like moss. The Pyxidanthera genus is found only in the Atlantic Coastal Plain.
Close-up of flowers Paul Somers, Boiling Spring Lakes, March 2012
Developing fruit David Paynter, Pender Co, May 12, 2013
Links:	USDA PLANTS Database Record