Pyroloideae is a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

of plants in the family

Ericaceae The Ericaceae () are a Family (biology), 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 acros ...

. It was formerly treated as a separate family, Pyrolaceae.Stevens, P.F. (2001 onwards).
Ericaceae
''Angiosperm Phylogeny Website''. Retrieved 2014-12-29. It has also been treated as the tribe Pyroleae within the subfamily

Monotropoideae Monotropoideae, sometimes referred to as monotropes, are a flowering plant subfamily in the Family (biology), family Ericaceae. Members of this subfamily are notable for their mycoheterotrophic and non-photosynthesizing or achlorophyllous characte ...

. It consists of four genera: '' Chimaphila'' containing 5 species, ''

Pyrola ''Pyrola'' is a genus of evergreen herbaceous plants in the family Ericaceae. Under the old Cronquist system it was placed in its own family Pyrolaceae, but genetic research showed it belonged in the family Ericaceae. The species are commonly ...

'' containing 30 species and ''

Moneses ''Moneses uniflora'', the one-flowered wintergreen (British Isles), single delight, wax-flower, shy maiden, star of Bethlehem (Aleutians), St. Olaf's candlestick (Norway), wood nymph, or frog's reading lamp, is a plant of the family of Ericacea ...

'' and ''

Orthilia ''Orthilia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. It has only one species, ''Orthilia secunda''. Its common names are sidebells wintergreen, one-sided-wintergreen and serrated-wintergreen. It is also called one-sided pyrola, on ...

'' which are

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

. They are

mixotrophic A mixotroph is an organism that uses a mix of different sources of energy and carbon, instead of having a single trophic mode, on the continuum from complete autotrophy to complete heterotrophy. It is estimated that mixotrophs comprise more than ...

, gaining nutrition from

photosynthesis Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...

, but also from

mycorrhizal fungi A mycorrhiza (; , mycorrhiza, or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant's rhizosphere, the plant root system and its surroundings. Mycorrhizae play ...

Genera list

References

Asterid subfamilies {{Ericaceae-stub