_Wintergreen Family_
Low, mostly evergreen perennials with branched rootstocks and petioled
leaves; flowers nearly regular, white or pink; calyx 4—5-lobed;
corolla deeply 4—5-parted or of 5 petals; stamens twice as many as the
divisions of the corolla, anthers opening by pores or short slits;
stigma 5-lobed.
Flowers racemose; leaves basal. =Pyrola.=
Flowers solitary or corymbose; leaves opposite or whorled.
Stem leafy at base; flower solitary; style long. =Moneses.=
Stem horizontal; branches erect, leafy; style short. =Chimaphila.=
[Sidenote: =Pyrola chlorantha= Sw. _Greenish-flowered Wintergreen._]
Stems 4—10 inches high, 3—10 flowered. Leaves all basal, small,
orbicular or broadly oval, mostly obtuse at both ends, sometimes
narrowed at the base, thick, leathery, dull, obscurely crenulate or
entire, ½—1 inch long, shorter than or equalling the petioles. Flowers
greenish-white, nodding, slightly odorous, about half an inch broad;
stamens and style declined, ascending; anther sacs short-beaked.
On dry wooded slopes throughout the Rockies; flowering during June.
[Sidenote: =Pyrola uliginosa= Torr. _Bog Wintergreen._]
Scape 6—12 inches high, 7—15-flowered. Leaves broadly oval or
orbicular, dull, rather thick, obscurely crenulate, obtuse at both
ends. Flowers frequently over half an inch broad; calyx lobes oblong
or ovate-lanceolate, ¼—⅓ the length of the petals; style and stamens
declined; anther sacs beaked.
In bogs throughout the Rockies, a very pretty species with bright rosy
flowers and rounded leaves; flowering in July.
[Sidenote: =Pyrola asarifolia= Michx. _Liver-leaf Wintergreen._]
Stem 6—15 inches high, 7—15-flowered. Leaves reniform, usually wider
than long, thick, shining above, obtuse at the apex, cordate at the
base, crenulate, 1—1½ inches long, usually shorter than the narrowly
margined petioles. Flowers ½—¾ of an inch broad, pink, nodding in a
slender raceme 2—4 inches long; stamens and style declined, ascending;
style exserted.
In damp ground, in woods and swamps throughout the Rockies; flowering
in July.
[Illustration: _a_ Pyrola asarifolia Michx. Liver-Leaf Wintergreen.
_b_ Pyrola uliginosa Torr.
_c_ Moneses uniflora (L.) A. Gray. One-Flowered Wintergreen. (⅔ Nat.)]
[Sidenote: =Pyrola minor= L. _Lesser Wintergreen._]
Leaf blades thin, broadly oval or nearly orbicular, dark green,
crenulate, obtuse but sometimes with a spine-tipped apex, rounded,
slightly narrowed or subcordate at the base ½—1 inch long. Flowers
pinkish, ¼ inch broad, nodding, in a close raceme; style straight
included, stamens not inclined.
In damp mossy places throughout the region at the higher altitudes;
flowering in July.
[Sidenote: =Pyrola secunda= L. _One-sided Wintergreen._]
Stems generally several together, from the much branched rootstock,
slender, 4—10 inches high. Leaves ovate or often oval, thin, acute
or rarely obtuse at the apex, rounded or narrowed at the base,
crenulate-serrate, ¾—2 inches long, longer than the petioles. Flowers
greenish-white, ¼ of an inch or more broad, many, at first erect but
soon drooping, in a dense one-sided raceme; style straight, exserted;
stamens not declined.
Common in woods throughout the region at the lower altitudes; flowering
during early July.
[Sidenote: =Moneses uniflora= (L.) A. Gray. _One-flowered Wintergreen._]
Stem bearing 1—3 pairs or whorls of leaves at the base, continued above
into a bracted or naked scape 2—6 inches high. Leaves orbicular or
ovate, obtuse at the apex, narrowed, rounded or sometimes subcordate
at the base, rather thin, ¼—1 inch long, longer than or equalling the
petioles. Flowers white, ½—¾ of an inch broad, nodding at the summit
of the stem; petals spreading; capsule ¼ of an inch in diameter, about
as long as the persistent style and lobed stigma; the stamens in pairs
opposite each petal.
In mossy spots in the woods throughout the region; flowering in early
July.
[Illustration: Chimaphila umbellata (L.) Nutt. (⅔ Nat.) Prince’s Pine.]
[Illustration: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. (½ Nat.)
Bear-Berry.]
[Sidenote: =Chimaphila umbellata= (L.) Nutt. _Pipsissewa, Prince’s
Pine._]
Stems extensively creeping, sending up both sterile and flowering
branches 3—12 inches high. Leaves numerous, crowded near the summit of
the stem, spatulate or cuneate-oblanceolate, obtuse or acutish at the
apex, sharply serrate, bright green and shining, 1—2½ inches long, ¼—1
inch wide above the middle. Flowers several in an umbellate head, waxy
white or pink, the form of the region being usually bright, rosy pink,
½ an inch or more broad, petals spreading with the rosy pink anthers
opposite them in pairs; capsule about ¼ of an inch broad surmounted by
the short style.
Locally abundant throughout the region; flowering during July.