Pyrola alba Andres; P. alba var. viridiflora Andres; P. decorata var. alba (Andres) Y. L. Chou & R. C. Zhou; P. handeliana Andres; P. oreodoxa Andres.

Herbs 15–35 cm tall. Rootstock long, slender, branched. Leaves 3–6, crowded at base of caudex; petiole 2–3 cm; leaf blade light green and purplish abaxially, deep green with pale veins adaxially, oblong or obovate-oblong, (3–)5–7 × 2.5–4 cm, thinly leathery, base cuneate, decurrent, margin with remote minute teeth, apex acute or mucronulate. Scape slender, with 1 or 2 scalelike leaves at base; raceme 4–10-flowered, 2.5–4 cm. Pedicel 5–9 mm; bract lanceolate, 5–9 mm, membranous. Flowers ± nodding, saucer-shaped, 1–1.5 cm in diam. Sepals ovate-oblong, 3–6 × 2–2.5 mm, apex acute. Petals light green to white, obovate-oblong, 6–8 × 5–7 mm, apex rounded. Filaments glabrous; anthers yellow, 3–4 × 1–1.5 mm, tubules present. Style exserted, 6–10 mm, curved, dilated at apex into a ring. Capsules 7–11 mm in diam. Fl. Jun–Jul, fr. Jul–Aug.

Pinus or broad-leaved forests, scrub; 600–3000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan].