Pyroloideae is a
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...
of plants in the family
Ericaceae
The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...
. It was formerly treated as a separate family, Pyrolaceae.
[Stevens, P.F. (2001 onwards).]
Ericaceae
''Angiosperm Phylogeny Website''. Retrieved 2014-12-29. It has also been treated as the tribe Pyroleae within the subfamily
Monotropoideae
Monotropoideae, sometimes referred to as monotropes, are a flowering plant subfamily in the family Ericaceae. Members of this subfamily are notable for their mycoheterotrophic and non-photosynthesizing or achlorophyllous characteristics.
Descript ...
. It consists of four genera: ''
Chimaphila'' containing 5 species, ''
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 ...
'' containing 30 species and ''
Moneses
''Moneses uniflora'', the one-flowered wintergreen (British Isles), single delight, wax-flower, shy maiden, star of Bethlehem (Aleutians), St. Olaf's candlestick (Norway), wood nymph, or frog's reading lamp, is a plant of the family of Ericacea ...
'' and ''
Orthilia
''Orthilia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. It has only one species, ''Orthilia secunda''. Its common names are sidebells wintergreen, one-sided-wintergreen and serrated-wintergreen. It is also called one-sided pyrola, on ...
'' which are
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
. They are
mixotrophic A mixotroph is an organism that can use a mix of different sources of energy and carbon, instead of having a single trophic mode on the continuum from complete autotrophy at one end to heterotrophy at the other. It is estimated that mixotrophs comp ...
, gaining nutrition from
photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored i ...
, but also from
mycorrhizal fungi
A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant ...
.
Genera list
References
Asterid subfamilies
{{Ericaceae-stub