Leaves broadly oval or elliptical, not evergreen, rather thin and dark green, blunt, rounded or narrowed at the base, the margins wavy or plicate-crenulate with very low teeth; 11/2 to 4 inches long, usually longer than the petioles, all basal. Flowers whitish, nodding, one-half to two-thirds of an inch broad, fragrant, racemose on scapes or stalks, 5 to 10 inches high; calyx lobes five, ovate-triangular, sharp pointed; petals five, blunt, flat, about four times as long as the calyx lobes; stamens ten, declined, style also declined, its apex curved upward. Fruit capsule five-lobed, five-celled, the valves cobwebby on the margins when splitting open, about one-fourth of an inch in diameter.

In rich soil of rather dry woods and clearings, Nova Scotia to British Columbia, south to Maryland, Illinois, Iowa and in the Rocky mountains to New Mexico. Our commonest species of Pyrola. Flowering from the latter part of June to August.

Memoir 15 N. Y. State Museum

Plate 151

B. Shinleaf - Pyrola elliptica