Pyrola
(a diminutive of Pyrus, the Pear-tree; so-called from some fancied resemblance in the foliage, which is not obvious). Wintergreen. ORD. Ericaceae. A genus comprising about fourteen species of hardy, perennial, very glabrous, stolon-bearing, stemless or caulescent herbs (one species leafless), natives of Europe (Britain), North and Central Asia, and North America, including Mexico. Flowers white, yellow, pink, or pale purple, on erect, bracteate, racemose scapes, nodding; calyx five-parted, persistent; petals five, concave, sessile, more or less incurved-connivent; stamens ten. Leaves radical or cauline, alternate, usually long-stalked, persistent, entire or serrated. Several species are very pretty, and well worth growing. They thrive in thin, mossy copses, on light, sandy, vegetable soil, or in moist and half-shady parts of the rockwork or fernery. Propagated by division. P. elliptica (elliptic). fl. white, campanulate, with a grateful smell; racemes elongated, few-flowered, rather secund. June and July. l. cuneate-oblong, coriaceous, acute at base, twice as long as the narrow petioles, the margins remotely toothed or quite entire. h. 6in. North America, 1818. (H. F. B. A. 134.) P. maculata (spotted). A synonym of Chimaphila maculata. P. media (intermediate). fl. white, tinged with red, 1/2in. in diameter; racemes many-flowered; pedicels scattered. July and August. l. orbicular-ovate, crenate, sometimes 1 3/4in. in diameter. h. 4in. Europe (Britain). (Sy. En. B. 897.) P. minor (smaller). fl. white, tinged with red, drooping, globose, 1/4in. in diameter; raceme short; scape 8in. to 12in. long, slender. June to August. l. orbicular-ovate, obscurely crenate, usually arranged in a rosette, but sometimes alternate, coriaceous, 1in. to 1 1/2in. long, contracted into the longer petiole. Europe (Britain), North America. (F. D. 55; Sy. En. B. 898.) P. rotundifolia (round-leaved).* fl. pure white, fragrant, from ten to twenty in a drooping raceme on an erect stem 6in. to 12in. high. Summer. l. roundish, quite entire or crenulated, shorter than the dilated petioles. h. 6in. Europe (Britain). (F. D. 1816; Sy. En. B. 895.) The variety arenaria (Sy. En. B. 896), found on sandy sea-shores, differs from the type in having smaller leaves, and pedicels as long as the ovate sepals, and, generally, several scale-like bracts below the inflorescence. Both the type and its variety are exceedingly pretty plants for rock work, and prefer a sandy soil. P. secunda (side-flowering).* fl. greenish-white, horizontal, 1/4in. in diameter; racemes secund, 1in. to 2in. long; scape slender, 2in. to 5in. long. July. l. ovate, acute, serrate, 1in. to 1 1/2in. long, rosulate or alternate, rather thin, reticulate; petioles shorter. Stem straggling; branches 1in. to 4in. long, ascending. Europe (Britain), West Asia, North America. (F. D. 402; Sy. En. B. 899.) P. umbellata (umbelled). A synonym of Chimaphila corymbosa. P. uniflora (one-flowered). A synonym of Moneses uniflora.