266 DECANDRIA MONOGYNIA 



Root creeping, long, slender, stoloniferous. Stem decumbent, 1 to 2 or 3 inches 

 high, leafy at summit, with small lanceolate scales below. Leaves an inch to an 

 inch ami halflong, and 3 fourths of an inch to an inch wide, mucronate ; petiole 

 about half as long as the leaf. Common peduncle scape-like, terminal, 3 to f> inches 

 in length, with 2 or 3 lanceolate very acute bracts at base, and remote appresscd 

 ones above. Raceme 1 to 2 inches long, minutely puberulent ; pedicels 2 to 3 lines 

 long, all turned to one side, each with u lanceolate bract at base scarcely as long 

 as the pedicel. Culyx-sezmaits short, ovate. Petals greenish white, oblong. 

 Stamens about as long as the petals, erect. Style longer than the petals, straight; 

 stigma dilated, peltate, 5-lobed. Capsule small, depressed-globose, umbilical"', B- 

 angled,or lobed ; valves opening at base, slightly connected by filaments. Seeds 

 extremely minute. 



Hob. Woodlands ; Mica-slate hills ; Londongrove : not common. Fl. July. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. This occurs plentifully in some localities in Londongrove Township, and is 

 occasionally met with North and Kast of West Chester; but it is much less com- 

 mon than either of the preceding. 



1 1 Style very short, and thick. 



4. P, tjmbellata, L. Leaves cuneatc-oblong, acute at base, serrate, 

 uniformly green; flowers in a terminal subumbellate corymb. JJech, 

 Jiot. p. 227. 



Chimaphila corymbosa. Pursh, Jim. 1. p. 300. LindL Ency. /;. 362. 

 C. umbellate. jYutt. Gen. I. p. 274. Bart. Phil. I. p. 203. Florul. 

 Cestr.p.bl. Eat. Man. p. 92, 



Umbellate Pyrola. Vulgo — Pipsissawa. Wintcr-grcen. 



Root creeping, long. Stem asconding, 3 to 6 inchoe long, fruticose, leafy at sum- 

 mil. Leaves subverticillate (often in 2 or 3 verticils), 1 to 2 inches long, and half 

 an inch to 3 quarters wide, acute, or often cuneate-obovatc and rather obtuse, 

 nharply serrate, coriaceous, smooth and shining, tapering at base to a short petiole. 

 Common peduncle terminal, solitary (sometimes 2 or 3 when the stem is slightly 

 branched at summit), 3 to 4 or 5 inches long, bearing an imperfect umbel of 4 to 6 

 flowers. Pedicels about half an inch long, puberulent, with subulate bracts at or 

 near the base* Cafyx 5-cleft ; segments broad-ovate, obtuse, or sometimes acuto 

 and even acuminate, ciliate. Petals reddish white, w ith a tinge of violet, roundish- 

 obovate, concave, minutely ciliate. Stamens violet purple, nearly as Long as the 

 petals ; filaments dilated at base, forming a Bpatulate-obovate ciliate disk ; anther* 

 large, sagittate, with 2 tubular truncated pores at base, inverted when the flower 

 is expanded. Ovary obtusely conic, with a margined ring at base ; style very short 

 and thick, immersed in the umbilicate depression of the ovary ; stigma peltate, 

 orbicular, with a narrow margin, convex, viscid, 5- rayed, separable into 5 lobes. 

 Capsule depressed-globose ; valves opening at summit, and at base, nearly desti- 

 tute of connecting filaments. Seeds very minute, subulate-linear, rcticulatc- 

 etriate, pale tawny. 



Hob. Woodlands, particularly of northern cxposuro : common. Fl. June. /V.Sept. 

 Obs. I have restored the Chimaphilas^ of Pursh, to the genus Pyrola,— from 

 deference to high Botanical Authority, rather than an entire conviction of its ne- 

 cessity ;— though it must be acknowledged they arc very nearly allied. This spe- 

 cies has long been noted, as an Indian medicine, under the name of Pipsissawa. 

 It is moderately bitter and astringent,— and 1 have used the infusion in some cases 

 of slow typhoid fever with advantage : But its virtues havo been trumpeted through 

 the Gazettes (as is too often the case with both vices and virtues) much beyond the 

 warranty of sober tacts. 



