[+][+] Petals and leaves orbicular to oblong, very obtuse.
4. P. chlorántha, Swartz. Leaves small (1´ long), roundish, thick, dull, shorter than the petiole; scape few-flowered, naked (5–8´ high); calyx-lobes roundish-ovate, very short; the elliptical petals converging (greenish-white); anther-cells contracted into a distinct neck; style little exserted.—Open woods, Lab. to Penn., Minn., north and westward. June, July.
5. P. ellíptica, Nutt. (Shin-leaf.) Leaves thin and dull, elliptical or obovate-oval, longer than the margined petiole; raceme many-flowered; calyx-lobes ovate, acute, not one fourth the length of the obovate rather spreading (greenish-white) petals; anther-cells blunt.—Rich woods, N. Eng. to Md., Iowa, Minn., and northward. June.
6. P. rotundifòlia, L. Leaves orbicular, thick, shining, usually shorter than the petiole; scape many-bracted (6–12´ high), raceme elongated, many-flowered; calyx-lobes lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acutish, with somewhat spreading tips, one half or one third the length of the roundish-obovate rather spreading (chiefly white) petals; anther-cells nearly blunt.—Damp or sandy woods, throughout the continent, south to N. Ga. Exhibits many varieties, such as, Var. incarnàta, DC., with flesh-colored to rose-purple flowers, and triangular-lanceolate calyx-lobes. Cold woods and bogs, N. Eng. to Minn., and northward.—Var. asarifòlia, Hook., with oblate or round-reniform leaves, and shorter ovate calyx-lobes; petals flesh- or rose-colored (rarely white). With same range.—Var. uliginòsa, Gray, with short broadly ovate calyx-lobes, subcordate to obovate dull leaves, and rose-colored or purple flowers. Same range. (Eu.)
24. PTERÓSPORA, Nutt. Pine-drops.
Calyx 5-parted. Corolla ovate, urn-shaped, 5-toothed, persistent. Stamens 10; anthers 2-celled, awned on the back, opening lengthwise. Style short; stigma 5-lobed. Capsule globose, depressed, 5-lobed, 5-celled, loculicidal, but the valves cohering with the columella. Seeds very numerous, ovoid, tapering to each end, the apex expanded into a broad reticulated wing many times larger than the body of the seed.—A stout and simple purplish-brown clammy-pubescent root-parasitic herb (1–2° high); the wand-like stem furnished towards the base with scattered lanceolate scales in place of leaves, above bearing many nodding (white) flowers, in a long bracted raceme. (Name from πτερόν, a wing, and σπορά, seed, alluding to the singular wing borne by the seeds.)
1. P. Andromedèa, Nutt.—Hard clay soil, parasitic apparently on the roots of pines, from W. New Eng. to N. Penn., N. Mich., and westward; rare.
25. SCHWEINÍTZIA, Ell. Sweet Pine-sap.
Calyx of 5 oblong-lanceolate acute scale-like sepals, erect, persistent. Corolla persistent, bell-shaped, rather fleshy, 5-lobed, slightly 5-gibbous at the base. Stamens 10; anthers much shorter than the filaments, fixed near the summit, awnless; the two sac-shaped cells opening at the top. Capsule ovoid, 5-celled, with a short and thick style, and a large 5-angular stigma. Seeds innumerable.—A low and smooth brownish plant, 3–4´ high, with the aspect of Monotropa, scaly-bracted, the flowers several in a terminal spike, at first nodding, flesh-color, with the fragrance of violets. (Named for the late L. D. von Schweinitz.)
1. S. odoràta, Ell.—Woods, parasitic on the roots of herbs, Md. (near Baltimore) to N. C. April.