Pyrola crypta

Cryptic wintergreen, Cryptic Wintergreen

Family: Ericaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Cryptic wintergreen is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, and Cascade Range in moist to dry mixed conifer forests at elevations of 500 to 1,900 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces white flowers with distinctive bilateral symmetry in clusters of 7 to 16 blossoms. Growing with delicate stems 7 to 14 centimeters tall, it emerges from an understated base with scattered scale-like leaves. Its leaves are dark green, 5 to 8 centimeters long, with intriguing white mottling along the veins and an obovate to elliptic shape. The plant's petals are gracefully shaped, measuring 5.3 to 6.5 millimeters long, with small lanceolate sepals that curve slightly at the tips.

Habitat: Uncommon. Moist to dry mixed conifer forests, often with granite

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 500-1900 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO, NCoRH, CaR

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