shinleaf

Shinleaf, often called eliptic shinleaf, is a low growing, perennial forb that rises on a single stem from a horizontal underground stem (rhizome). It occurs across northern United States and southern Canada, and in Arizona and New Mexico. It is common in Minnesota. It grows in acidic, nutrient-poor, well-drained soil in moist areas of upland forests and woodlands.

The stem is 4¼″ to 10½″ tall, erect, hairless and unbranched.

The leaves are ½″ to 3″ long and 7 ⁄16″ to 2¼″ wide. They are alternate but are clustered at the base of the stem and appear almost basal. They are on ½″ to 1 9 ⁄16″ (12 to 40 mm) long leaf stalks (petioles). The petioles are hairless, channeled above, and as long or slightly shorter than the leaf blade. The leaf blades are broadly oval, widest in the middle and narrowing to both ends (elliptic), sometimes with nearly parallel sides (oblong). They are narrowly angled or tapered at the base and broadly pointed or rounded at the tip. The upper surface is dark green, shiny or dull, and hairless. The veins are not whitened. The lower surface is light green, dull, and hairless. The margins have tiny, inconspicuous teeth.

The inflorescence is an unbranched cluster (raceme) of usually 3 to 14 flowers, sometimes up to 21 flowers. Each flower hangs downward on a hairless, ⅛″ to 5 ⁄16″ (3 to 8 mm) long flower stalk (pedicel). There is often no modified leaf (bract) at the base of the pedicel. Sometimes there are 1 or 2 bracts, rarely up to 4 bracts, subtending the pedicel. When present, the bracts are awl-shaped or narrowly lance-shaped and usually shorter than the pedicel that it subtends.

The flowers are ¼″ to ⅓″ wide and broadly bell-shaped. There are 5 sepals, 5 petals, 10 stamens, and 1 style. The sepals are triangular, very short, and fused at the base. They are green or pinkish with thin, translucent (membranous) margins. The petals are white to greenish-white, inversely egg-shaped (widest at the tip), ¼″ to ⅜″ (6 to 10 mm) long, and ⅛″ to ¼″ (3 to 5.5 mm) wide. The stamens have white, ⅛″ to ¼″ (4 to 6 mm) long stalks (filaments) and orange anthers. The style is pale green, 3 ⁄16″ to ¼″ (5 to 7 mm) long, curved, and conspicuously protrudes below the corolla.

The fruit is a flattened globe-shaped, ⅛″ to 3 ⁄16″ (3 to 5 mm) long, ⅛″ to ¼″ (3.3 to 6.6 mm) wide seed capsule. The sepals and style persist with the fruit.

4¼″ to 10½″

White

Dry. Upland forests and woodlands. Acidic, nutrient poor, well-drained soil. Dappled sunlight.

June to August

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 28, 29, 30.

Native

Common and widespread

Subfamily
Some authorities, including GRIN, Catalogue of Life, and iNaturalist, place the tribe Pyroleae in the subfamily Monotropoideae. Others, including World Flora Online, Angiosperm Phylogeny Website, and NCBI, place it in the subfamily Pyroloideae.

Family
The genus Pyrola was formerly placed in the family Pyrolaceae. In 2002, Pyrolaceae and four other families were placed in the heath family (Ericaceae).

Plant

Plant

Inflorescence

Flower

Leaf

Shinleaf
Andree Reno Sanborn

MyNature Apps; Identifying Shinleaf, Pyrola elliptica
MyNatureApps

Location: Cass County