16 AMERICAN MEDICINAL LEAVES AND HERBS. 
PIPSISSEWA. 
Chimaphila umbellata (.) Nutt. 
Pharmacopeial name.—Chimaphila. 
Synonyms.—Pyrola umbellata L.; Chimaphila corymbosa Pursh. 
Other common names.—Prince’s pine, pyrola, rheumatism weed, bitter wintergreen, 
ground holly, king’s cure, love-in-winter, noble pine, pine tulip. 
Habitat and range.—Pipsissewa is a native of this country, growing in dry, shady 
woods, especially in pine 
forests, and its range ex- 
tends from Nova Scotia to 
British Columbia, south to 
Georgia, Mexico, and Cali- 
fornia. It also occurs in 
Europe and Asia. 
Description.—This small 
perennial herb, a foot or less 
in height, has a long, run- 
ning, partly underground 
stem. It belongs to the 
heath family (Ericacezx) 
and has shining evergreen 
leaves of a somewhat leath- 
ery texture placed in a cir- 
cle around the stem, usually 
near the top or scattered 
along it. They are dark 
green, broader at the top, 
with a sharp or blunt apex, 
narrowing toward the base 
and with margins sharply 
toothed; they are from 
about 1 to 2 inches long and 
about three-eighths to a 
little more than half an inch 
wide at the broadest part. 
From about June to August 
the pipsissewa may be 
Fic. 8.—Pipsissewa (B) and spotted wintergreen (A) (Chimaphila found in flower, its pretty 
umbellata and C. maculata), flowering and fruiting plants. 
waxy-white or pinkish fra- 
grant flowers, consisting of five rounded, concave petals, each one with a dark-pink 
spot at the base, nodding in clusters from the top of the erect stem. The brown 
capsules contain numerous very small seeds. (Fig. 8.) 
Collection, prices, and uses.—Although the United States Pharmacopeeia directs 
that the leaves be used, the entire plant is frequently employed, as all parts of it are 
active. Pipsissewa leaves have no odor, but a bitter, astringent taste. They bring 
about 4 cents a pound. Pipsissewa has slightly tonic, astringent, and diuretic prop- 
erties and is sometimes employed in rheumatic and kidney affections. Externally 
it has been applied to ulcers. 
Another species.—The leaves of the spotted wintergreen (Chimaph*la maculata Pursh) 
were official in the Pharmacopeeia of the United States from 1830 to 1840. These may 
be distinguished from the leaves of C. umbellata (pipsissewa) by their olive-green 
color marked with white along the midrib and veins. They are lance shaped in cut- 
line and are broadest at the base instead of at the top as in C. umbellata. 
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