General: Perennial parasitic herb from widespread rhizomes; stems erect, 1 to several in a clump, simple, 10-20 cm tall.
Leaves: Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves alternate, entire, short-stalked, narrow to widely egg-shaped, 1.5-4 cm long.
Flowers: Inflorescence of axillary or subterminal cymose clusters of 3 greenish-purple, apetalous flowers with the lateral pair soon deciduous, leaving an elongated terminal flower; calyces bell-shaped with 5 triangular lobes 1.5 mm long and spreading; stamens 0.5 mm long.
Fruits: Drupe-like, round, fleshy, red, 5-10 mm wide.
Dry to mesic forests and bogs in the montane and subalpine zones; common throughout BC in and E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains except rare on the N coast and SC BC; N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to ME, NY, MI, WI, MN, MT, ID and WA.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
A shade-tolerant/intolerant, montane to subalpine, transcontinental North American forb (rare in the Pacific region). Occurs in continental boreal and cool temperate climates on nitrogen-poor soils. Scattered in coniferous forests on water-shedding and water-receiving sites in the central and northern coast-interior ecotone; its occurrence increases with increasing continentality. Often associated with Hylocomium splendens, Pleurozium schreberi, and Ptilium crista-castrensis. An oxylophytic species characteristic of Mor humus forms.
