Pyrola minor L.
lesser wintergreen (snowline wintergreen)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)
(Previously in Pyrolaceae)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
lesser wintergreen (snowline wintergreen)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)
(Previously in Pyrolaceae)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from slender rhizomes; flowering stems usually single, 6-25 cm tall.
Leaves:
Evergreen, basal, egg-shaped to elliptic or nearly circular, the blades 1-3 cm long, 1.4-2.5 cm wide, rounded to almost heart-shaped at base, blunt at tip, entire to finely round-toothed; stalks 1-3 cm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a 5- to 20-flowered, somewhat crowded terminal raceme, the flowers 5-7 mm wide, more or less closed, radially symmetric; flower stalks 2-5 mm long; petals pale pinkish to rose, oval, 3.5-5 mm long; sepals pinkish, triangular-egg-shaped, 1-3 mm long; stamens converging, but not joined; anthers about 1 mm long, egg-shaped, pointed, the pores not on tubes; filaments thin, flattened; styles straight, included, 1-2 mm long, without a collar; stigmas 5-lobed.
Fruits:
Capsules, depressed globe-shaped, 5-6 mm wide.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Pyrola minor
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)
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)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1043 | 6 | 2190 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
14 | 0 | 80 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
321 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 1 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
449 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
SBS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BAFA(6), BWBS(70), CWH(27), ESSF(91), ICH(23), IDF(26), MH(7), MS(34), SBPS(8), SBS(117), SWB(14) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Mesic to moist forests in the montane zone; frequent throughout BC, except the Queen Charlotte Islands; N to AK, YT, and NT, E to NF and S to S CA, NM, MN, and MA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Braxilia minor (L.) House
Erxlebenia minor (L.) Rydb.
Pyrola minor var. parviflora B. Boivin