''Chimaphila menziesii'', known by the common names little prince's pine and Little Pipsissewa, is a species of perennial wildflower in the

heath family The Ericaceae () are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with about 4,250 known species spread across 124 genera, maki ...

Distribution

This plant is found scattered throughout the mountains of western North America where it grows in the understory of

coniferous forests Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

. It is native to the Western United States and Southwest Canada.

Description

''Chimaphila menziesii'' is a short flower with a slender reddish stem not exceeding 15 centimeters. The leaves are lance-shaped and a leathery rich green with light veins and tiny widely spaced teeth along the edges. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

atop the stem produces hanging flowers on long stalks. Each flower is white to dark pink, with spreading petals around a thick center. A ring of

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s with large tubular anthers surrounds an

ovary The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...

with a large buttonlike stigma. It is similar to, but smaller than, its relative the prince's pine, ''

Chimaphila umbellata ''Chimaphila umbellata'', the umbellate wintergreen, pipsissewa, or prince's pine, is a small perennial flowering plant found in dry woodlands, or sandy soils. It is native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere. Description This pl ...

''.

Uses

The plant was used to make treatments to break up kidney stones or gallstones; the name Pipsissewa likely derives from the

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

word ''pipsisikuweu'' ('it breaks into little pieces').

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
menziesii Flora of the Western United States Flora of British Columbia Flora of California Flora of Montana Flora of Nevada Flora of Oregon Flora of Utah Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Ericaceae-stub