[Gaultheria glaziovii Warming ex Glaziou, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 57, Mem. 3e: 429.  1910, nom. nud.  Brazil.  Minas Gerais: "Itatiaia, dans le campo entre les rochers, Rio-Jan.," Glaziou 4872 & 6626 (both at C, K, P).]

     Erect shrub 0.3-1 m tall;  mature stem terete, striate, glabrous;  bark reddish-tan, exfoliating in longitudinal strips;  twigs subterete, striate, reddish-tan, strigose with basally swollen, ferruginous, eglandular hairs to 3 mm long;  buds strongly laterally compressed, ca. 1 mm long, scales few, glabrous, reddish.  Leaves coriaceous, ovate to elliptic, (1-)1.5-3(-3.5) x (0.4-)0.7-1.4(-2) cm, base rounded to obtuse, apex acuminate, sometimes sharply so, margin crenulate, glabrous above, strigose beneath with basally swollen hairs to 2 mm long, these deciduous and then leaving dark-colored punctae;  midrib, lateral nerves, and reticulate veinlets slightly raised on both surfaces;  petiole subterete, flattened above, striate, 2-3 mm long, glabrous.  Inflorescence axillary, flowers solitary in axils of strongly reduced leaves and leaf-like bracts, these congested near branch tips and appearing as a terminal pseudoraceme;  pedicels subterete, 3-6 mm long to 8 mm after anthesis, puberulent or not but strigose (densely) with straight to crisped, eglandular hairs to 1 mm long;  bracteoles 2, basal, ovate, 1.5-3 x 1.8 mm, acuminate, ciliolate, margin minutely glandular-fimbriate;  floral bract ovate, striate, from 5 x 2 mm to leaf-like and then up to 12 x 4 mm.  Flowers with calyx 4-6.5 mm long, lobes narrowly triangular to narrowly ovate, often nearly as long as corolla or rarely surpassing it, 3.5-6 x 1.3-1.6 mm, long-acuminate, sometimes striate, glabrous or strigose without, puberulent within, ciliolate, margin strigose with few, eglandular hairs to 1.2 mm long;  corolla cylindric or cylindric-campanulate to slightly cylindric-urceolate, (4.5-)5.5-6(-8.3) x 2.5-4.5(-5) mm, glabrous without but pilose within, white sometimes flushed with pink (or dark red?), lobes oblong to ovate, obtuse;  stamens 3.2-4(-4.6) mm long;  filaments 2.2-2.5(-3.5) mm long, glabrous;  anthers 1.5-2 mm long, slightly narrowed apically appearing as short tubules, these apically weakly bifid but not noticeably awned;  ovary densely pilose;  style 3.5-4(-5) mm long, glabrous.  Fruiting calyx apparently remaining membranous, capsule with slightly thickened sutures.

     Distribution (Map).  Endemic to the cloud forest zone in Santa Catarina, Brazil at elevations of 1000-2300 m.  The species prefers dry or moist campos, but has a wide tolerance and may also be found in rocky-humic places, open forest near bases of mountains, marshes and swamps, and forest edge.  Flowering and fruiting occurs from Dec to Jun.

     Common names and uses.  Brazil:  urze do itatiaia (Santa Catarina).