Chimaphila umbellata (Prince's Pine) - photos and description

 

 

 

 


Looking straight down on plant.

 

 

Origin: Native.

General: Evergreen woodland plant. Stems are decumbent to erect. Plants are rhizomatous - forming large colonies.

Flowers: Flower stems produce 3 to 6 small reddish pink flowers in a loose cluster above the leaves. Flowers in July. We measured flowers to 16 mm in diameter.

Leaves: Leaves are glossy, deep green, oblanceolate, growing in whorls, and are typically 5 cm long and 1.5 cm wide. Leaf margins have small, sharp teeth.

Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 20 cm, we measured plants to 17 cm tall.

Habitat: Dry soil in coniferous forest.

Abundance: Rare, ranked as an S3 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.

When and where photographed: Took the above photos July 19th and July 24th in lodgepole pine and mixed forest in the Cypress Hills, about 400 km southwest of our home in Regina, SK.