Native Plant Database

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

Little Pipsissewa, Little prince's pine

Pyrolaceae (Wintergreen Family)

USDA Symbol: chme

USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

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 Princes 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.

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