Chimaphila umbellata - (image 1 of 4)
Taxonomy
Family: Pyrolaceae
Habitat
Dry, acid woods, often in sandy soil.
Associates
Distribution
Circumboreal, south to VA, WV, northern IN, CO, and CA.
Morphology
Evergreen sub-shrub, 10-30 cm tall, from a creeping rhizome. Leaves oblanceolate, tapering to the base, dark green (not marked with white), 3-6 cm, acute or mucronate, sharply toothed above and mostly entire below, tapering to a short petiole. Flowers 4-8, corymbose or subumbellate, 10-15 mm wide; petals 5, white to pink, wide-spreading. Fruit an upright capsule.
Notes
Flowers June
Wetland indicator: Upland
The name Pipsissewa is derived from the Cree word pipisisikweu which means "it breaks into pieces" as the plant was once used to treat bladder stones. Also called Prince's Pine.
References
Collins English Dictionary. 2009. Pipsissewa. Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of
Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
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Michael Hough © 2010 |