General: Perennial herb from a very slender, scaly, whitish rhizome; stems erect but slender and weak, 5-20 cm tall, smooth.
Leaves: Leaves of flowering stems 2 to 4 (usually 3), alternate, elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, tapering to a somewhat sheathing base, 3-12 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, unstalked, smooth, the margins entire; basal leaves lacking.
Flowers: Inflorescence a slender, unbranched, 2- to 5-cm long, terminal cluster of 2 to 12, spreading, stalked flowers, the stalks distinctly longer than the flowers; flowers creamy-white to greenish-white, star-shaped, of 6 similar, distinct tepals, the tepals 3-4 mm long, spreading; stamens 6, shorter than tepals; pistil 1, 3-chambered.
Fruits: Berries, globe-shaped, dark red, about 5 mm wide; seeds 1 or 2.
Moist to wet forests, bogs, fens and peaty streambanks in the montane and subalpine zones; infrequent in N BC, north of 56degreeN and east of the Coast Mountains; N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to MA, PA, MI, WI and MN.
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)
