ONH

Pipsissewa, Prince’s Pine

Chimaphila umbellata

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    1 - Pipsissewa, or Prince’s Pine, Chimaphila umbellata.

    07/16/2005 Heart O’ the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, WA

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    2 - Pipsissewa leaf buds in the spring.

    04/17/2020 Heart O’ the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, WA

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    3 - Pipsissewa leaf buds in the spring.

    04/17/2020 Heart O’ the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, WA

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    4 - Pipsissewa new leaves.

    05/27/2020 Heart O’ the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, WA

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    5 - Pipsissewa beginning to flower.

    07/21/2020 Heart O’ the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, WA

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    6 - Pipsissewa with two flowers open.

    07/21/2020 Heart O’ the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, WA

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    7 - Pipsissewa flower close up. Note the tubular anthers with small, terminal pores from which pollen escapes.

    07/21/2020 Heart O’ the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, WA

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    8 - Pipsissewa flowers.

    07/25/2020 Heart O’ the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, WA

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    9 - Pipsissewa. Three flowers have lost petals and are beginning to form seed capsules.

    07/30/2020 Heart O’ the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, WA

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    10 - Pipsissewa, seed capsules beginning to form.

    08/02/2020 Heart O’ the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, WA

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    11 - Pipsissewa seed capsules.

    08/02/2020 Heart O’ the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, WA

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    12 - Pipsissewa seed capsules.

    08/08/2020 Heart O’ the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, WA

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    13 - Pipsissewa, whole plant with seed capsules. Note long stem with many leaf whorles.

    08/10/2020 Heart O’ the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, WA

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    14 - Pipsissewa seed capsules.

    09/10/2020 Heart O’ the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, WA

Pipsissewa is a common name used to refer to Chimaphila umbellata. Prince’s Pine is another common name for the plant.

The photos here are of a small patch of Pipsissewa growing next to moss-covered rotting wood among salal and mahonia under Western Redcedar at a forest edge at about 2,000 feet elevation. We noticed a cluster of pink waxy flowers hanging down from a stem that rose above whorls of bright green leaves.

The plants are around 4 to 10 inches high. The reason they appear as a patch is that Pipsissewa spreads by underground stems (rhizomes) that sprout new roots and new upright stems.

As the photos show, the distinctive flowers appeared in mid-July. In August the seed capsules formed. The leaves remain bright green throughout the year.

Pipsissewa belongs to the heather family, Ericaceae, which includes heathers, blueberries and rhododendrons. Many of these plants have tubular anthers with terminal pores from which pollen escapes.