General: Perennial herb from a rhizome; stems, including flowering-stem, 13-40 cm tall.
Leaves: Basal, evergreen, leathery, round to elliptic or egg-shaped, the blades 2-8 cm long, nearly as wide, commonly heart-shaped at base to rounded or somewhat pointed, rounded to shallowly notched at tip, entire to toothed with veins projecting slightly beyond margin, dark green and shining above, usually somewhat purplish beneath, not mottled; stalks 2-9 cm long.
Flowers: Inflorescence a (5) 8- to 25-flowered, elongate, terminal raceme, the flowers 10-15 mm wide, weakly bilaterally symmetric, open; flower stalks 3-8 mm long, usually shorter than the linear-lanceolate, dry, membranous bracts; petals pinkish to rose or purplish-red, 5-8 mm long; sepals pointed to sharp-pointed, 1.5-5 mm long; anthers pink, 2-3.5 mm long, sharp pointed at the lower end, the tubes short and the pores nearly terminal; styles declined, strongly curved, exserted, 5-8 mm long, with a collar below the stigma.
Mesic to moist forests, thickets, meadows and heath in the lowland to subalpine zones; common throughout BC, except Queen Charlotte Islands; N to AK, YT, and NT, E to NF, and S to OR, NM, MN, and NH; Asia.
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)
Shade-tolerant/intolerant, submontane to subalpine, circumpolar forb (transcontinental in North America). Grows in boreal, temperate, and cool mesothermal climates; its occurrence increases with increasing latitude and decreases with increasing elevation. Species occurs on moderately dry to fresh, nitrogen-medium soils. Widespread and scattered in coniferous forests on water-shedding sites (often in alluvial forests). Usually associated with Hylocomium splendens, Linnaea borealis, and Pleurozium schreberi. Characteristic of friable Mor and acidic Moder humus forms.
