liverleaf wintergreen

not listed

N5 - Secure

SNR - Unranked

not listed

FACU - Facultative upland

FACW - Facultative wetland

FACW - Facultative wetland

Liverleaf wintergreen, also called pink pyrola, is common, low-growing, late spring wildflower. It occurs throughout Canada. In the United States it occurs in the northeast, in the upper Midwest, and throughout the west. In Minnesota it is common in the northeast and north-central regions, less common in the northwest, central, and metro regions, and mostly absent from the remainder of the state. It is found in deciduous and coniferous forests, swamps, bogs, and peatlands, and on stream banks. It grows in moist soil. It blooms from June to July, peaking the first week of July.

Liverleaf wintergreen is a 6″ to 12″ (1.5 to 3.0 dm) tall, erect, perennial forb that rises on a single aerial stem from a shallow, horizontal, underground stem (rhizome). The rhizome is slender, long, and branching. The stem is very short, erect, unbranched, and hairless.

The leaves are crowded and form a radiating cluster (rosette) in the spring. They are consistently described in the literature as “nearly basal” after Gleason and Cronquist (1991). This suggests that they are clustered along the plant’s very short solitary stem. Each leaf is on a ⅝″ to 29⁄16″ (15 to 65 mm) long stalk (petiole). The petiole is hairless, channeled above, and usually as long as the leaf blade.

The leaf blades may be round, kidney-shaped, egg-shaped (widest near the base), or elliptic (widest in the middle). They are 1″ to 2¾″ (24 to 71 mm) long, ½″ to 2″ (13 to 49 mm) wide, rounded to tapered at the base, and broadly or narrowly angled at the tip. They are leathery in dry habitats, soft in moist habitats. The upper surface is dark green, shiny, and hairless. The lower surface is lighter green and somewhat purplish, dull, and hairless. The margins are untoothed or have shallow, rounded teeth.

The inflorescence is a loose, unbranched cluster (raceme) of 4 to 25 flowers on the upper half of a 6″ to 12″ (1.5 to 3.0 dm) long inflorescence stalk (peduncle). The peduncle is unbranched and hairless. It has 1 to 3 small, scale-like leaves (bracts). The bracts are egg-shaped, ¼″ to ⅝″ (7 to 16 mm) long, ⅛″ to 3⁄16″ (2.5 to 5 mm) wide. Each flower nods downward at the end of a ⅛″ to 5 ⁄16″ (4 to 8 mm) long flower stalk (pedicel). At the base of each pedicel there is a linear lance-shaped bractlet. The bractlet is usually as long or longer than the pedicel it subtends.

The flowers are ⅜″ to ⅝″ (10 to 15 mm) wide. There are 5 sepals, 5 petals, 10 stamens, and 1 style. The sepals (together the calyx) are green and are fused at the base then separated into 5 triangular, 1⁄16″ to ⅛″ (1.4 to 3.5 mm) long lobes with narrowly pointed or tapered tips. The margins are whitish or pinkish with thin, translucent (membranous) margins. The petals are widely spreading, inversely egg-shaped (widest at the tip) to round, 3⁄16″ to ⅜″ (4.8 to 9.1 mm) long, and ⅛″ to ¼″ (2.9 to 6.0 mm) wide. They are white or pinkish at the base, rose-red or purplish-red at the tips. The stamens do not protrude beyond the petals. The style is pale green, long, and curved, and conspicuously protrudes below the corolla.

The fruit is a flattened globe-shaped, ⅛″ to 3 ⁄16″ (4 to 5 mm) long, ¼″ to 5⁄16″ (6 to 8 mm) wide seed capsule. The sepals and style persist with the fruit.

6″ to 12″ (1.5 to 3.0 dm)

White or pink to purplish-red

Moist to dry. Deciduous and coniferous forests, swamps, bogs, peatlands, stream banks.

June to July

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 28, 29, 30.

Native

Common

Family
The genus Pyrola was formerly placed in the family Pyrolaceae. In 2002, Pyrolaceae and four other families were placed in the heath family (Ericaceae).

Subfamily
Some authorities, including GRIN, place the tribe Pyroleae in the subfamily Monotropoideae. Others place it in the subfamily Pyroloideae. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Website, which should be the last word on naming of North American plants, places Pyroleae in the subfamily Pyroloideae.

Location: Fairview Twp

Location: Cass County

Location: Cass County