PYROLA MINOR. LESSER WINTERGREEN.
PYROLA minor ; foliis ovato-rotundatis crenatis, staminibus erectis stylo perbrevi recto subæquelongis
stigmate quinqaelobo lobis patentibus.
PYROLA minor. Linn. Sp. PL p. 567. Buds. Angl. p. 176. L ig h tf Scot. p. 219. With. Bot.
l i i a S 2 ' P‘ 1 • FL Ban. t. 55. Hoffm. Germ. ed. 2. vol. 1. P . I. p. 190.
lUUd.Sp. PL ml. 2. p. 621. Smith FL Brit. p. 444. Engl. Bot. t. 158. (ic. mal.) Decand.
N . d r. ed. 3. ml. 3. ». 684. FL Gall. Syn. p. 250. Pers.Syn. PL ml. 1 . 0. 483. Wahl,
l'l. Lapp. p. 1 10 . Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept. ml. l.p . 299. Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 2. ml. S.
p. 58. Book. FL Scot. P . I. p. 128. Tour in Iceland, m l. l . p. 122.
PYROLA rosea. Smith Engl. Bot. t. 2543. (ic. bon.)
P"V ROLA foliis subrotundis racemosis, tubis rectis. Hall. Helv. n. 1009.
PYROLA minor. RaiiSyn. p. 363?
Welsh. Coedtoyrdd bychan.
Class and Order. DECANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
[Natural Order. MONOTROPEÆ. Nuttall, Hook. (FL Scot.) Lindl. (in Coll. Bot.) ERICACEÆ
Decand. ERICÆ, Juss.] ' ’
Char. Ordinis. Calyx inferus, quinquepartitus, vel nullus. Corolla mono- vel polypetala.' Staminasegmentorum
corollas duplice numéro, hypogyna. Ovarium quandri-vel quinqueloculare, polyspermum. Stylus anus. Stigma
obscure quadri- vel qumquelobum. Capsula quadri- vel quinquelocularis, quadri- vel quinquevalvis, valvis medio
septiteris. Semina minuta, numerosa, arillata. Embryo minutissimus, ad extremitatem albuminis carnosi__
Herbce non raro aphyltee. Flores racemosi, cernui.
Gen. Char. Calyx quinquefidus. Petala quinque. Anthères poris duobus déhiscentes. Capsula super®, quinquelocularis.
Semina numerosa, arillo longo tecta. ^
GliS. Cu.m. Calyx of five divisions. Petals five. Anthers opening by two pores. Capsule superior, o f five
cells. Seeds long, numerous, covered with a long arillus.
Root perennial, filiform, creeping, throwing out fibres at
intervals, slightly squamose in the upper part.
Stem short, almost simple, scaly : the scales oblongo-
ovate, green.
Leaves almost round, .blunt, of a pale green colour,
shining, rather rigid, reticulated with veins, ere-
nate, petiolated ; the foot-stalks longer than the
leaves, channelled above.
Scape solitary, a span high, erect, angled, spirally
twisted, furnished at the base with a solitary scale
or bractea.
Flowers terminal, arranged in a lax raceme, looking in
various directions, nodding.
Peduncles aboutas long as the flowers, curved, having
one small green bractea at their base.
Calyx quinquefid, persistent; the segments spreading.
acute. r 6
Corolla of five petals ; the petals nearly connivent in
a globular form, rounded, white, tinged with rose
colour.
Stamens ten, shorter than the corolla: Filaments
white, erect, shorter than the pistil : Anthers
yellow, two-celled ; the cells opening by a dilated
pore at their points.
Pistil shorter than the petals : Germen rounded, depressed,
five-lobed : Style very short, much
shorter than the germen : Stigma dilated, five-
lobed; the lobes spreading, depressed in the
centre.
Pericarp : Capsule rounded, depressed, crowned with
the very short persistent style, deeply divided
into five lobes, five-celled, five-valved ; the cells
many-seeded : Dissepiments alternating with the
valves.
Radix perennis, filiformis, repens, hie illic fibrosa, su-
Caulis brevis, subsimplex, squamosus, squamis ob-
11. .longo-ovatis, viridibus.
Folia subrotunda, obtusa, pallide viridia, nitida, rigi-
diuscula, reticulatim venosa, crenata, petiolata;
petiolis foliis longioribus, supra canaliculalis.
Scapus solitarius; spithamseus, erectus, angulatus, spira-
liter tortus, basi squama, vel bractea, solitaria
instructus.
Flores terminales, in racemum laxum congesti, undi-
Calyx quinquefidus, persistens, segmentis patentibus
Corolla penlapetala, petalis in globum subconniven-
Pistri.LUM corolla brevius: Germen rotundatum, de-
pressum, quinquelobum : Stylus perbrevis, ger-
mine multo brevior: Stigma dilatatum, quinque-
bravissimo persistente coronata, profunde quin-
. queloba, quinquelocularis, quinquevalvis, loculis j
polyspermis: Dissepimenta valvis alternaniia.
Receptacles central, spongy.
Seeds numerous, arillatc, precisely similar to those of '
I P. rotundifolia.
perne subsquamos®.
que spectantes, cernui.
Pedunculi flore subasqqe longi, curvati, unibracteati,
, bractea parva viridi.
acutis.
tibus, rotundatis, albis, roseo tinctis.
Stamina decern, corolla breviora: Filamenta alba,
erecta, pistillo breviora: Anthene flavee, bilocu-
lares, loculis apice poro dilatato dehiscentibus.
r lobum, lobis expansis, centra depressum.
Pericarpium:. Capsula rotundata, depressa, stylo
ReceptacuLa centralia; spongiosa.
Semina numerosa, arillata, omnino ut i
folia.
P. rotundi-
Fig. ]. Flower deprived of its petals. Fig. 2. Single petal. Fig. 3. Stamen. Fig. 4. Advanced pistil. Fie 5 Section
ot the same. Fig. 6. Ripe capsule. Fig. 7. Seeds :—all more or less magnified.
Not rare in woods in the North of England, and of particularly common occurrence in Scotland, where it is met
with.in greater plenty than any other species of this interesting genus. The present drawing was made „nrW*il
hospitable roof ot my valued friend the venerable James Brodie, ofBrodie, Esq., from specimens which I had
gathered in the neighbouring forests of Darnway, the property of Lord Murray.
No one who has compared the flowers of the two Pyrohs, viz. minor and media, (which latter is already fiaurcH
L in T V T nve- V T T - T priely T ; T c - T m disti"g“isW >“ » two species. Here the stylé’is so
I 11 “ ,0 bewlM!lï included within the corolla, having a five-rayed stigma with the lobes patent ; whilst P mertia
has a long style, slightly deflected (hut not curved as in P . rotundifoliaj, projecting beyondthe corolla and hïvin“
nve erect points at its extremity. ’ a,&
The difficulty of rightly distinguishing the Pyrola minor has
~ -~~z-----•' ~m ■ "o j —‘‘“‘s ’ncnvi «jao, it must be confessed, been somewhat increased hv
the imperfect representation of the plant which beam that name in English Botany; and the subsequent aDnearar -
H M S B delineation of it, in the same work, under the appellation of P . rosea. The learned author has
Jleess Cyclo/iaiia, properly reduced them both to P . minor; and there is not, to all appearance a more (Wh?;: lllarkp.n unppiou rlmii flvic ir. flt/i mknl.marked species than this in the whole g—enus. *' ’ UU1': OCLlUCl
Phe Lesser Winter-green is common on the continent of Europe; and I have even found it so far nonh
>nn **'■*'“■ ’*■ — 1 native o f Canada and Labrador; and to be met with, though sparingly i
June and July, and ripens its seeds freely.
decidedly
Iceland. Pursh states it
west.parts of New York. It flow