Striped Prince's Pine, Spotted Wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata (L.) Pursh)

Pyrolaceae (Wintergreen Family)

USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Photographic Location: Fall Creek Falls State Park, TN

Nodding, fragrant, waxy, white or pinkish flowers are in small clusters at the top of a stem with whorled, evergreen leaves, mottled with white.

This is a conspicuous plant in both winter and summer because of its white and green mottled leaves. It appears to increase both vegetatively and by seedling reproduction following light wildfires. A slightly taller relative, Pipsissewa (C. umbellata), has shiny, dark green leaves that lack the mottling. The genus name is from the Greek cheima (winter) and philein (to love). 

Spotted Wintergreen, Pipsissewa, Striped Wintergreen, Striped Prince’s Pine, Striped Prince’s Plume, Dragon’s Tongue. While Spotted Wintergreen or Striped Wintergreen are frequently-used common names for Chimaphila maculata, the Wintergreen name is perhaps more properly associated with the Gautheria genus. Pipsissewa is also frequently used for this plant, although that is more frequently associated with sister species Chimaphila umbellata, which does not have the stripe on the leaves and more frequently has generally reddish blossoms, and Pipsissewa is commonly applied to the Chimaphila genus in general. Three states (New York, Maine, Illinois) in which Chimaphila maculata, according to the USDA Plants Database, has protected status also list it as Spotted Wintergreen.

Some authorities place Chimaphila in Pyrolaceae - the Shinleaf family rather than in Ericaceae – the Heath family.

There are three species of Chimaphila found in the United States. Chimaphila menziesii - Little Prince’s Pine - is found in several western states as well as British Columbia. Various subspecies of Chimaphila umbellata - Pipsissewa - are found across much of the United States and Canada. Chimaphila maculata - Spotted Wintergreen - is found in forests in every state east of the Mississippi and in Eastern Canada, and disjunctly is also found in the mountains of Arizona, Mexico, and Central America south to Panama.