Nearctica - Eastern Wildflowers - Pyrolaceae - Lesser Pyrola (Pyrola minor)

Lesser Pyrola

(Pyrola minor)

Color Drawing: Wolcott, M.V. 1925. North American Wild Flowers. Smithsonian Institution.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

Lesser Pyrola (Pyrola minor L.)

Identification: Flowers white or pink, relatively small for the genus with 5 petals. Flowers arranged in a terminal spike with the flowers arranged spirally around the flower stalk. Flower stalk long, without leaves, arising from a basal rosette of leaves. Leaves dark green, rounded, with a petiole as long or longer than the body of the leaf. Plant 4 to 8 inches in height.

Distribution: Across Canada and southward in the east to Minnesota, Michigan, and New England. Found in the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico. Also native to Europe and northern Asia.

Habitat: Lesser Pyrola is found in cold forest.

Flowering period: June to August.

Similar Species: Lesser Pyrola is similar to Greenish-flowered Pyrola. However the flowers of Greenish-flowered Pyrola are green to green-white and relatively larger than those of Lesser Pyrola.