_Chimaphila umbellata_
_Flowers_--Flesh-colored, or pinkish, fragrant, waxy, usually with deep
pink ring around centre, and the anthers colored; about 1/2 in. across;
several flowers in loose, terminal cluster. Calyx 5-cleft; corolla of 5
concave, rounded, spreading petals; 10 stamens, the filaments hairy;
style short, conical, with a round stigma. _Stem:_ Trailing far along
ground, creeping, or partly subterranean, sending up sterile and
flowering branches 3 to 10 in. high. _Leaves:_ Opposite or in whorls,
evergreen, bright, shining, spatulate to lance-shaped, sharply
saw-edged.
_Preferred Habitat_--Dry woods, sandy leaf mould.
_Flowering Season_--June-August.
_Distribution_--British Possessions and the United States north of
Georgia from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Also Mexico, Europe, and Asia.
A lover of winter indeed (_cheima_ = winter and _phileo_ = to love) is the
Prince’s Pine, whose beautiful dark leaves keep their color and gloss in
spite of snow and intense cold. A few yards of the trailing stem, easily
ripped from the light soil of its woodland home, make a charming indoor
decoration, especially when the little brown seed-cases remain. Few
flowers are more suggestive of the woods than these shy, dainty,
deliciously fragrant little blossoms.
* * * * *
The Spotted Wintergreen, or Pipsissewa (_C. maculata_), closely
resembles the Prince’s Pine, except that its slightly larger white or
pinkish flowers lack the deep pink ring; and the lance-shaped leaves,
with rather distant saw-teeth, are beautifully mottled with white along
the veins. When we see short-lipped bees and flies about these flowers,
we may be sure their pollen-covered mouths come in contact with the
moist stigma on the summit of the little top-shaped style, and so effect
cross-fertilization.