PYROLA UMBELLATA -UMBEL-FLOWERED WINTER-GREEN. 
Class X. DECANDRIA.— Order I. MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order, PYROLACEHS. — THE WINTER-GREEN TRIBE. 
Fig. (a) the anthers separated ; (5) a seed — from Lamarck. 
Five species of this very natural genus are indigenous to Great Britain. The Pyrola umbellata has received 
a place in our national pharmacopoeias ; probably on account of the high eulogiums which have been be- 
stowed upon it as a powerful tonic and diuretic: but although widely diffused throughout the northern 
hemisphere, this species is not found wild in Britain. It inhabits every part of the United States, and ex- 
tends across the continent to the Shores of the Pacific Ocean. It is also found in the forests of Siberia, and 
in several of the northern parts of Europe and Asia. It delights only in shady woods, particularly of pine 
and birch, where it is protected from the rays of the sun, and nourished by the soil formed from the de- 
composition of leaves and other vegetable matter. The common appellations by which it is known in 
America are Winter Green, Ground Holly, Rheumatism, Weed, and Pippissewa. It is the most beautiful of 
all the genus; producing its elegant umbels of cream-coloured flowers in June and July, and continues a 
long time in bloom. 
Like most others of this genus, the Pyrola umbellata has a long creeping perennial root, sending up 
woody, somewhat angular, erect, or slightly procumbent stems, at various distances, a span high. The 
leaves grow in irregular whorls, of which there are generally two or three on each stem. They are lanceo- 
late, wedge-shaped, strongly serrated, smooth, placed on short petioles, and of a deep shining green colour. 
The flowers, which are usually five, grow in a small corymb, on simple, nodding pedicles : the calyx is in- 
ferior, and consists of five roundish, permanent segments, much shorter than the corolla : the petals are five 
roundish, concave, spreading, cream-coloured, with a tinge of crimson at the base : the filaments are ten, 
awl-shaped, curved, supporting large, 2-celled purple anthers ; each cell opening by a short, round, tubular 
orifice at the summit: the germen is roundish, depressed, furrowed, obscurely 5-lobed; the style cylindri- 
cal, half as long as the germen, and concealed by the stigma, which is large, peltate, covered with a viscid 
matter, and obscurely 5-rayed. The capsules are orbicular, depressed, with 5 valves, 5 cells, and 5 parti- 
tions from the central column. The seeds are very minute, oval, each contained in a membranous tunic, 
elongated at both ends. 
Qualities and Chemical Properties. — The whole plant, when bruised, has a strong unpleasant 
odour, and a moderately warm pungent taste, partaking of both sweet and bitter. Alcohol appears to be 
the best menstruum for extracting the active properties of the plant, although water is capable of separating 
the greater part of its virtues. The decoction is of a deep brown, and strikes a black colour with the sul- 
phate of iron. 
A Dissertation “De Pyrola umbellata,” published at Gottingen, by Dr. Wolf, in 1817, contains an 
elaborate chemical examination of this plant. As the result of his trials, this author concludes, that 100 
parts of Pyrola umbellata contain about 18 of a bitter extractive principle, 2.04 of resin, 1.38 of tannin, a 
slight portion of gum, and the rest fibrous matter and earthy salts. The resin is adhesive, brownish, readily 
soluble in ether and alkalis, burning with flame and a resinous odour, leaving a white cinder. 
Medical Properties and Uses. — “As we have no experience ourselves (says Professor Burnett) of 
the medical properties of this plant, we think that our readers will thank us for furnishing them with the 
opinions of Dr. Bigelow, Professor of Materia Medica, and Botany, in Harvard University, United States: 
The Pyrola umbellata though scarcely known as a medicine until within the last few years, has at the present 
day acquired a reputation of considerable extent in the treatment of various diseases. Its popular celebrity 
seems to have originated in its application to the treatment of fever and rheumatism ; but the attention of 
physicians has been chiefly drawn towards its use in other complaints. The instances in which this plant 
has received favourable testimonies on medical authority, of its successful use, both in America and Europe, 
are principally the following. 1. As a palliative in strangury and nephritis. 2. As a diuretic in dropsy. 
3. As an external stimulant, susceptible of useful application in various diseases. 
“ In the first of the cases, the Pyrola is entitled to attention and confidence. Some practioners in this 
country have employed it with advantage in the same cases in which the Arbutus Uva ursi is recommended. 
Dr. Wolf, the german writer, has reported a number of cases of ischuria and dysuria, arising from various 
causes in which the Pyrola, given in infusion, produced the most evident relief, and took precedence of a variety 
of remedies which had been tried. His method of administering it was to give a table spoonful of a strong 
infusion, with a little syrup, every hour. In all the cases he has detailed, small as the dose was, it gave re- 
lief in a very short time. In one case its effect was so distinctly marked, that the disease returned when- 
ever the medicine was omitted, and was removed on resuming its use. A tonic operation attended its other 
effects, so that the appetite was improved, and digestion promoted during the period of its employment. 
“The diuretic properties of the Pyrola umbellata, seem to have been fully illustrated by Dr. W. 
Somerville in a paper on this vegetable, published in the 5th volume of the London Medico-Chirurgical 
Transactions. The facts presented by this physician afford satisfactory evidence of the power of this medi- 
