Northern starflower, maystar, trientale boréale

Trientalis americana Pursh; T. borealis var. tenuifolia House

Stems 4-20 cm. Leaves mostly whorled at stem apex, some alternate on proximal stem; blades of distal leaves lanceolate to lanceolate-elliptic, 2.5-10 (-12) cm × 6-45 mm, widest at midlength, (proximal leaves abruptly much smaller, 0.1-0.6 cm × 0.3-1.5 mm, ± scalelike), apex acute to acuminate. Pedicels 1-3(-5), 1.5-4 cm, shorter than leaves, usually sparsely stipitate-glandular. Flowers: corolla white, 5.5-8(-10) mm, lobes ovate to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate. 2n = 96.

Flowering summer. Moist to wet coniferous forest, open heath lands, mature northern hardwood forests; 30-1100 m; St. Pierre and Miquelon; Alta., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask.; Conn., Ill., Ind., Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., R.I., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.