Pyrola aphylla

Leafless wintergreen, Leafless Wintergreen

Family: Ericaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Leafless wintergreen is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Sierra Nevada foothills, central western California, San Bernardino Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, and Modoc Plateau in mixed conifer forests at elevations of 500 to 2,500 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces cream-white or pink flowers that are small and bilateral, with petals 5 to 7.5 millimeters long. Growing with a distinctive leafless or near-leafless form, it produces a flowering scape up to 6 meters tall with 7 to 25 flowers. Its leaves are highly reduced, often less than 1 centimeter long and barely visible, appearing lanceolate to deltate and dull, frequently hidden by leaf litter. The plant's unique adaptation of minimal foliage allows it to thrive in the understory of dense conifer forests, blending subtly into the forest floor.

Habitat: Mixed conifer forest to

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 500-2500 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SNF, SNH, CW, SnBr, PR, MP

California counties: Mariposa, Kern, San Diego, Shasta, Siskiyou, San Bernardino, El Dorado, Lake, San Mateo, Napa, Mendocino, Plumas, Trinity, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Riverside, Tehama, Tuolumne, Alpine, Humboldt, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, Fresno, Glenn, Marin, Monterey, Nevada, Sonoma, Tulare, Stanislaus, Modoc, Colusa, Ventura, Santa Clara, Madera

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.