PIPSISSIWA. PRINCE'S PINE.
Chimaphila Menziesii, Spreng. Heath Family.
Stems.—Six inches high. Leaves.—Six to eighteen lines long; dark green, sometimes variegated with white; leathery. Flowers.—One to three. Calyx.—Five-parted; white. Petals.—Five; waxen-white or pinkish. Stamens.—Ten. Filaments enlarged and hairy in the middle. Anthers two-celled; opening terminally. Ovary.—Five-celled. Style short. Stigma button-like. Hab.—The Middle Sierras and Mendocino County.
The prince's pine is a charming little plant, and may be found beneath the undergrowth in the great coniferous woods of the Sierras, where it sits demurely with bowed head, like some cloistered nun engaged with her own meditations. It has an exquisite perfume, like that of the lily of the valley.
The common prince's pine of the Eastern States—C. umbellata—is more rare with us, though it is found through somewhat the same range as the above. It is a more vigorous plant than the other, has from four to seven purplish flowers in the cluster, while its leaves are never spotted.
In the East, from the leaves of this species is manufactured the drug "chimaphila," which is valued as a tonic and astringent, also as a remedy for cataract.