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Nootka wintergreen, white vein shinleaf, white-vein pyrola, white-vein wintergreen

American shinleaf, American wintergreen, pyrole d'amérique, round-leaf pyrola

Habit Plants rhizomatous, (0.5–)1.5–4.6 dm. Plants rhizomatous, 0.1–0.3(–0.4) dm.
Leaves

sometimes highly reduced or absent;

petiole 4–25 mm, channeled adaxially, glabrous;

blade usually maculate, sometimes not maculate, dull and light green to purplish abaxially, dull or shiny and green to dark green, usually with white tissue bordering larger veins adaxially, ovate or ovate-elliptic to oblanceolate or spatulate, 8–80 × 4–49 mm, coriaceous, base obtuse to attenuate or decurrent, margins entire or denticulate to coarsely denticulate, apex obtuse to acute.

petiole (8–)15–70 mm, channeled adaxially, glabrous;

blade not or, sometimes, maculate, dull to shiny and light green to green abaxially, shiny and dark green sometimes with white tissue bordering larger veins adaxially, ovate to obovate or round, 16–73(–80) × 16–70 mm, coriaceous, base rounded to decurrent, margins crenate, apex subacute to obtuse, rounded, or retuse.

Inflorescences

1–2(–3), 4–24-flowered;

peduncular bracts 1–5, subulate to narrowly lanceolate, 3–9 × 1–2 mm, membranous, margins entire or erose-denticulate;

inflorescence bracts subulate to ovate-lanceolate, usually shorter than or, rarely, longer than subtended pedicels, 3.5–6 × 2–3 mm, herbaceous.

1 per stem, 4–22-flowered;

peduncular bracts 1–5, oblong-ovate, 5.5–13 × 2–4 mm, chartaceous or membranous, margins entire;

inflorescence bracts lanceolate-ovate, longer than subtended pedicels, 4–12 × 1.2–3 mm, chartaceous.

Pedicels

3–18 mm.

4–8 mm.

Flowers

calyx lobes appressed or spreading in fruit, green with margins hyaline to white or pinkish, widely deltate to widely ovate, 1.1–3.9 × 1.1–2.4 mm, margins entire or erose-denticulate, apices acute;

petals greenish white, white, pink, or reddish, obovate, 4.2–11.2 × 3.1–7.1 mm, margins entire or obscurely denticulate;

stamens 5–9 mm;

filament base 0.5–0.8 mm wide;

anthers 1.8–5.5 mm, apiculations absent or 0.1–0.2 mm, thecae creamy white to pink, tubules orange, 0.4–0.8 mm, gradually narrowed from thecae, lateral walls usually touching for most of their lengths, pores 0.1–0.3 × 0.1–0.2 mm;

ovary smooth;

style exserted, 4–9 mm;

stigma (0.8–)1–1.6 mm wide, lobes erect.

calyx lobes appressed or spreading in fruit, green or pinkish with margins hyaline to white or pinkish, ovate, ovate-oblong, or obovate, 2–4.3(–4.5) × 1.4–2 mm, margins entire or erose-denticulate, apices obtuse to acute;

petals white, often suffused with pink, obovate to round, 6–10.5 × 4.5–5 mm, margins entire;

stamens 4–7 mm;

filament base 0.6–0.9 mm wide;

anthers 2–4.1 mm, apiculations 0.1–0.3 mm, thecae creamy white or greenish white to pink or reddish, tubules yellowish brown to pink or reddish, 0.2–0.3 mm, gradually or abruptly narrowed from thecae, lateral walls touching for most of their lengths, pores 0.1–0.2 × 0.1–0.2 mm;

ovary smooth;

style exserted, 6–9 mm;

stigma 0.7–1.6 mm wide, lobes erect.

Capsules

depressed-globose, 3–6 × 6–9 mm.

depressed-globose, 3–3.5 × 4.2–5 mm.

2n

= 46.

= 46.

Pyrola picta

Pyrola americana

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Dry, coniferous forests Moist to dry, deciduous or coniferous forests, bogs
Elevation 400-3000 m (1300-9800 ft) 10-2100 m (0-6900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CT; DE; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SD; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SPM
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

E. Haber (1987) concluded that Pyrola picta, P. aphylla, and P. dentata are morphotypes of a single, highly variable species, a finding consistent with seed morphology data compiled by Hiroshi Takahashi (1993). Leafless scapes frequently are found attached to rhizomes bearing leafy shoots (W. H. Camp 1940; Haber 1987). Putative hybrids between P. picta and P. chlorantha have been reported at three locations in the western United States (Haber 1993). Cladistic analyses of molecular and morphologic data suggest that P. picta is sister to P. chlorantha (J. V. Freudenstein 1999b), which also occasionally is leafless.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

The relationship between Pyrola americana and other members of sect. Pyrola awaits resolution; various interpretations exist. Some authors follow M. L. Fernald (1920) in treating it as conspecific with the Eurasian P. rotundifolia. B. Křísa (1966, 1971) considered P. americana to be morphologically distinct from P. rotundifolia, treating it as P. asarifolia subsp. americana (Sweet) Křísa. E. Haber (1972) likewise treated P. americana as a subspecies of P. asarifolia, noting similarities in stamen morphology, flavonoid chemistry, and geography. Later, in a detailed study of P. asarifolia, Haber (1983) did not address directly the position of P. americana, which he did not include as either an infraspecific taxon or synonym of P. asarifolia. The taxon is maintained here as a distinct species pending further studies.

M. L. Fernald (1920) referred plants from Newfoundland and the Gulf of St. Lawrence area, which grow on barrens and in spruce forests, often on calcareous substrates, to Pyrola rotundifolia, considering them indistinguishable from European plants. E. Haber (1972) interpreted them as ecotypic variants of P. asarifolia subsp. asarifolia, noting the occurrence of similar populations outside that area.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 8, p. 383. FNA vol. 8, p. 380.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Monotropoideae > Pyrola Ericaceae > subfam. Monotropoideae > Pyrola
Sibling taxa
P. americana, P. asarifolia, P. chlorantha, P. elliptica, P. grandiflora, P. minor
P. asarifolia, P. chlorantha, P. elliptica, P. grandiflora, P. minor, P. picta
Synonyms P. aphylla, P. dentata, P. dentata var. integra, P. picta subsp. dentata, P. picta var. dentata, P. picta subsp. integra P. rotundifolia var. americana
Name authority Smith: in A. Rees, Cycl., 29: Pyrola no. 8. 1814 , Sweet: Hort. Brit. ed. 2, 341. 1830 ,
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