''Chimaphila umbellata'', the umbellate wintergreen, pipsissewa, or prince's pine, is a small perennial

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

found in dry woodlands, or sandy soils. It is native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere. It grows 10–35 cm tall, and has

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

shiny, bright green, toothed leaves arranged in opposite pairs or whorls of 3–4 along the stem. Leaves have a shallowly toothed margin, where the teeth have fine hairs at their ends. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are white or pink, produced in a small

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

of 4–8 together.

Ecology

Although it has green leaves year-round, it receives a significant portion of its nutrition from fungi in the soil (that is, it is a partial

myco-heterotroph Myco-heterotrophy (from Greek μύκης , "fungus", ἕτερος ', "another", "different" and τροφή ', "nutrition") is a symbiotic relationship between certain kinds of plants and fungi, in which the plant gets all or part of its food fro ...

, which is not surprising as related plants, such as ''

Pyrola ''Pyrola'' is a genus of evergreen herbaceous plants in the family Ericaceae. Under the old Cronquist system it was placed in its own family Pyrolaceae, but genetic research showed it belonged in the family Ericaceae. The species are commonly ...

'', are partial or full myco-heterotrophs).

Taxonomy

There are four subspecies: *''Chimaphila umbellata'' subsp. ''umbellata'' – Europe, Asia *''Chimaphila umbellata'' subsp. ''acuta'' – southwestern North America *''Chimaphila umbellata'' subsp. ''cisatlantica'' – northeastern North America *''Chimaphila umbellata'' subsp. ''occidentalis'' – northwestern North America

Uses

Some

Plateau Indian Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau, also referred to by the phrase Indigenous peoples of the Plateau, and historically called the Plateau Indians (though comprising many groups) are indigenous peoples of the Interior of British Columbia ...

tribes used a boil of prince's pine to treat

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

. The twentieth century Appalachian folk healer Clarence "Catfish" Gray, "Man of the Woods", credited pipsissewa with curing his own heart problems and included it in his 15 herb cure-all "bitters." It is used as a flavoring in candy and soft drinks, particularly

root beer Root beer is a sweet North American soft drink traditionally made using the root bark of the sassafras tree '' Sassafras albidum'' or the vine of '' Smilax ornata'' (known as sarsaparilla, also used to make a soft drink, sarsaparilla) as the ...

. The roots and leaves of ''Chimaphila umbellata'' can be boiled to create tea. Recent investigations show the anti-proliferative effect of ''Chimaphila umbellata'' in human breast cancer cells (MCF-7). Das, N., Samantaray, S., Ghosh, C., Kushwaha, K., Sircar, D. and Roy, P., 2021. ''Chimaphila umbellata'' extract exerts anti-proliferative effect on human breast cancer cells via RIP1K/RIP3K-mediated necroptosis. Phytomedicine Plus, p.100159.

Name

"Pipsissewa" is a Cree name meaning "It-breaks-into-small-pieces".

References

External links

Flora Europaea: ''Chimaphila umbellata'' distributionlinnaeus.nrm.se: range map with the different subspecies of the ''Chimaphila umbellata''-complex Jepson Manual treatment – ''Chimaphila umbellata''USDA Plants Profile: Chimaphila umbellata
{{Taxonbar, from=Q158939 umbellata Flora of North America Flora of Europe Flora of temperate Asia Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Medicinal plants of Asia Medicinal plants of Europe Plants described in 1753 Rhizomatous plants Stoloniferous plants Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus