This is a beautiful broadleaf evergreen that grows in woodland uplands of moist soils from southern West Virginia down to northern Alabama. It has smooth, dark, glossy, leathery leaves that get some purple tinge in winter. It bears waxy, pitcher-like bell flowers similar to Blueberry in drooping spikes in May to early June. It is slow growing of about 1 foot/year. It has a shallow, fibrous root system and is easy to transplant. I've seen it thrive in a good number of southeast Pennsylvanian and New Jersey landscapes in acid, moist, sandy or silty or good clay soils, in partial or light full shade, out of strong sun and winds. It is an expensive, high quality plant that is used more by landscape architects and designers than the general public. Some are sold by larger nurseries and native plant nurseries. I've only seen a few in the Midwest in arboretums, that is not as friendly to broadleaf evergreens as the East of the US.

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