Shrub to 2 m (6 ft) tall. Twigs erect, black-dotted, pubescent when young, glabrous with age. Leaves alternate, simple; oblong, oval to elliptic; broadest above the middle; 1.9-7.6 cm (0.8-3 in) long, glabrous above, lightly pubescent beneath with occasional black dots; narrowed or obtuse at base, obtuse to apiculate at apex, margin entire; petiole 4 mm (0.15 in) or less long. Flowers in compound racemes of nodding umbels, pedicels 1-1.5 cm (0.4-0.6 in) long and bracteolate at base, many; sepals 5, calyx puberulent; petals 5-lobed, white to pink; styles columnar; stamens 10; flowers appear from May to July. Fruits capsules, about 8 mm (0.3 in) long, ovoid-pyramidal, five angled.
Distribution: Oklahoma and east Texas, east to Florida and north to Rhode Island. Rare in Oklahoma, restricted to the Coastal Plain physiographic province.
Habitat: moist, sandy, acid soil with pines
NWI status: FACU-,FAC
Comments: Lyonia honors John Lyon, an American botanist (died 1818 in Asheville); mariana means "of Maryland".
Horticulture: First cultivated in 1736. Can be propagated by seed or cuttings.
Distribution in Oklahoma: 
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Last update: 9/14/99
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