Orthilia
Encyclopedia
Orthilia secunda is a flowering plant
of the genus Orthilia in the family Ericaceae
. It is the only member of the genus.
Its common name is sidebells wintergreen and it was previously part of genus Pyrola
, the wintergreens.
The plant has a circumboreal
distribution, growing throughout much of the northern Northern Hemisphere.
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
of the genus Orthilia in the family Ericaceae
Ericaceae
The Ericaceae, commonly known as the heath or heather family, is a group of mostly calcifuge flowering plants. The family is large, with roughly 4000 species spread across 126 genera, making it the 14th most speciose family of flowering plants...
. It is the only member of the genus.
Its common name is sidebells wintergreen and it was previously part of genus Pyrola
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 known as wintergreen, a name shared with several other...
, the wintergreens.
The plant has a circumboreal
Circumboreal Region
The Circumboreal Region is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in Eurasia and North America, as delineated by such geobotanists as Josias Braun-Blanquet and Armen Takhtajan....
distribution, growing throughout much of the northern Northern Hemisphere.