Stiff, erect to spreading, bushy shrub to c. 2 m high (often much lower in exposed positions); young branches sparsely hairy to glabrous. Leaves alternate, crowded, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 1–4 cm long, 3–10 mm wide, thick and leathery, usually entire, rarely with a few apical teeth, light green, veined on both surfaces, glabrous; apex subacute; margins thickened; petiole 2–5 mm long. Spikes mostly terminal, often a few in upper leaf-axils, 2–5 cm long, exceeding leaves, axis rusty-hairy; flowers sessile, in pairs subtended by a hairy caducous bract to c. 7 mm long; tepals 4–5 mm long, creamy white, glabrous; ovary hairy. Follicle 12–20 mm long, boat-shaped, leathery, hairy, grey or brownish; seeds 2 per follicle, to c. 20 mm long including wing. Flowers Nov.–Jan.
HSF, HNF, HFE, VAlp. Widespread and often locally common in alpine and subalpine heathland and woodland, usually above c. 1300 m.
