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Flowering pixiemoss

Pyxidanthera barbulata

Also called Big Pyxie, Common Pyxie Moss, Savanna Pyxiemoss

Flowering pixiemoss
Photo: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possession, Public domain

Flowering pixiemoss is a low, mat-forming subshrub native to the sandy coastal plain of the eastern US, not a true moss. It is a difficult plant to grow in gardens, and it needs dry, sandy, well-drained conditions with full sun to thrive.

Family
Diapensiaceae (Diapensi family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water sparingly once established; it tolerates dry conditions and dislikes soggy soil.
Soil
Dry, sandy, acidic and very well-drained soil, similar to pine barren conditions.
Temperature
Hardy in temperate climates; tolerates cold winters in its native range (USDA zones about 6 to 9).
How easy
Hard
Native range
New York to South Carolina
Climate
temperate

About

Pyxidanthera barbulata, the flowering pixiemoss, is a species of flowering plant in the family Diapensiaceae. It is native to the eastern United States, occurring on the coast from Long Island to New Jersey and Virginia to South Carolina.

Pyxidanthera barbulata is not a moss. It is a low subshrub producing a mat on the ground. It grows from a rhizome and the stems root at intervals where they meet the ground. The crowded leaves are lance-shaped and no more than a centimeter long. The flowers have pink sepals and white petals up to about half a centimeter long.

Other Pyxidanthera plants

Littleleaf pixiemoss · Pixiemoss

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pyxidanthera barbulata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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