Bill's Botanical Forays

Spent 1.5 hours on the refuge today. Drove out to Lake Allen and spotted some white-colored flowers off in the pine woods on the east side of the lake. I got out of the Jeep to investigate and discovered it was a fairly good-sized patch of Spotted Wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata (L.) Pursh).

 

It likes oak-pine woods, sandy woods, well-drained upland forests and other mesic habitats. It is tolerant of acidic soil. It is frequently found in these types of habitats on the refuge.

The Spotted Wintergreen is native to eastern North America and Central America, from southern Quebec west to Illinois, and south to Florida and Panama. There are four populations in Ontario and one small extant population in Quebec. It is secure in Maryland.

 

 

Its scientific name and its frequently seen common name Spotted Wintergreen are misnomers. Species epithet “maculata” means spotted, but as you can see from the photo above, the leaves are striped, not spotted. Believe it or not, it is sometimes called Striped Wintergreen and Striped Prince’s Pine.