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Plant Database

Search for native plants by scientific name, common name or family. If you are not sure what you are looking for, try the Combination Search or our Recommended Species lists.

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Chimaphila menziesii

Chimaphila menziesii (R. Br. ex D. Don) Spreng.

Little Prince's Pine, Little Pipsissewa

Pyrolaceae (Shinleaf Family)

Synonym(s):

USDA Symbol: CHME

USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

A low plant with 1-3 shallowly bowl-shaped, pink, pinkish-white, or pinkish-green flowers hanging at ends of branches above leathery, dark green leaves.

The genus name, from the Greek cheima ("winter") and philos ("loving"), refers to the evergreen nature of the plant. The common name Little Pipsissewa is believed to be derived from the Cree Indian word pipisisikweu, meaning "it breaks it into small pieces"; the plant was once used in preparations for breaking up kidney stones or gallstones. The similar Prince's Pine or Common Pipsissewa (C. umbellata), common throughout the West, usually has more than three flowers, and the swollen bases of its stamens have a few stiff hairs. Spotted Wintergreen (C. maculata), found in Arizona, Mexico, and the eastern United States, has whitish mottling along the leaf veins.

Many authorities show this genus to now belong in the Ericaceae family.

 

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Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Subshrub
Fruit Type: Capsule
Size Notes: Rhizomatous stems up to about 8 inches long. Flowering stems up to about 2 inches tall.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White , Pink , Green
Bloom Time: May , Jun , Jul , Aug

Distribution

USA: CA , ID , MT , NV , OR , UT , WA
Canada: BC
Native Distribution: British Columbia south to southern California; also possibly in Idaho and Montana.
Native Habitat: Coniferous woods.

Web Reference

Webref 30 - Calflora (2018) Calflora
Webref 38 - Flora of North America (2019) Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
Webref 23 - Southwest Environmental Information Network (2009) SEINet - Arizona Chapter

Additional resources

USDA: Find Chimaphila menziesii in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Chimaphila menziesii in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Chimaphila menziesii

Metadata

Record Modified: 2023-05-03
Research By: TWC Staff

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