Striped prince’s-plume, spotted wintergreen, chimaphile maculée

Pyrola maculata Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 396. 1753; Chimaphila maculata var. dasystemma (Torrey ex Rydberg) Kearney & Peebles

Plants rhizomatous, 1-5.3 dm. Leaves: petiole 3-13 mm, terete or channeled adaxially, glabrous; blade maculate, dull and light green abaxially, shiny and green to dark green with white achlorophyllous tissue bordering larger veins adaxially, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate or ovate, 20-100 × 8-31 mm, base rounded to obtuse or acute, margins coarsely serrate, apex acute to acuminate. Inflorescences (1-)2-5-flowered; peduncle 1(-2) per stem, 4-19 cm, papillose to hispidulous; inflorescence bracts acicular to linear-lanceolate, free portions shorter than pedicels from which they arise, 4-6 × 0.4-0.6 mm, membranous, margins entire. Pedicels (4-)8-25 mm. Flowers: calyx lobes spreading or reflexed in fruit, entirely greenish or margins whitish green, broadly ovate, 1.4-4.1 × 1.3-4.5 mm, margins erose-denticulate, apex rounded to obtuse; petals white or pink, often tinged violet, orbiculate, 6-12 × 4.5-8 mm, margins fimbriate to erose-denticulate; stamens 6-8 mm; filament base 1.2-1.6 mm wide, dilated basal portion densely villous; anthers 2-4 mm, thecae white to tan or pinkish, tubules tan to pinkish brown, 0.8-1.1 mm, abruptly narrowed from thecae, lateral walls not touching, pores 0.3-0.5 × 0.3-0.5 mm; ovary papillose in lines; style 0.5-1 mm; stigma 2-3.5 mm wide. Capsules depressed-globose, 5-10 × 5-10 mm. 2n = 26.

Flowering May-Jul(-Aug). Coniferous, mixed, and deciduous forests, xeric sand communities; 0-900 m; Ont., Que.; Ala., Ariz., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Miss., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va.; Mexico; Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama); introduced in Europe (France).

Chimaphila maculata exhibits considerable morphologic variation, which does not appear to be correlated with geography.