伞形喜冬草 san xing xi dong cao

Pyrola umbellata Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 396. 1753; Chimaphila corymbosa Pursh; P. corymbosa (Pursh) Bertoloni.

Shrubs or herbs, to 15 cm tall, clonal, often forming extensive mats. Rhizome long creeping, 1–2 mm in diam., branched. Aerial stems erect or ascending, 1–2.2 mm in diam., simple or branched, angled, glabrous. Leaves cauline, in 2–6 subverticils of 4–9 each, alternating with caducous scales; petiole 3–6 mm, glabrous; leaf blade abaxially pale green, adaxially deep green, oblanceolate, 1–5 cm × 6–8 mm, thickly leathery, shiny, adaxially glabrous and with veins impressed, base cuneate, margin serrate above middle, apex obtuse to subacute. Peduncle erect, 3–6 cm, papillose, 2–7-flowered. Bract broadly linear, 3–4 mm. Sepals 5, persistent, ovate-orbicular, 1–2 × 1–2 mm, margin irregularly toothed, ciliate. Petals white, sometimes rosy, suborbicular, 4–6 × 3–5 mm, concave, margin irregularly toothed, opening fully. Stamens: lower dilated portion of filaments broadly ellipsoid, sparsely papillose; anthers 1.5–2.3 mm, papillate at base, tubes short, pores ca. 0.4 mm wide. Ovary longitudinally papillose, 5-loculed; stigma rounded, with 5 shallow lobes, 1.5–2.5 mm in diam. Capsules 4–7 mm in diam., fibers absent or oblong, 0.6–0.7 mm. Fl. Jul, fr. Sep–Oct. 2n = 26.

Dry coniferous or deciduous broad-leaved forests; low elevations. Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol [Japan, Russia; widely distributed elsewhere in N temperate zone].

Chimaphila umbellata is an evergreen subshrub occurring principally in the coniferous forests of the temperate regions of the N hemisphere. This species has been divided into five geographically delimited infraspecific taxa, and only the typical subsp. umbellata is distributed in China.