(sidebells wintergreen)
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Photo of Orthilia secunda by Jacob Frank
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Orthilia secunda is a small herb in the wintergreen family (Pyrolaceae) with pale green flowers all produced on one side of the stalk (an arrangement known as a 'secund'
inflorescence).
Orthilia secunda most frequently occurs in forest and shrublands, but can also occasionally be found scattered in alpine tundra. Plants grow 5-15 cm tall, and have basal leaves and a flowering stem, and. Sometimes leaves also grow on the lower stem. Leaves are green and shiny,
simple, short-
petioled,
ovate, and have a sharp-pointed tip, with the margins finely serrated. The stems have a few scales and 5-25 flowers held in a
raceme on one side of the stem, slightly curved. Flowers are small, with five whitish green petals which are translucent at the tips, each 4.5-6 mm long. The five petals, though not fused, overlap to form a nodding bell. The single
style is long, protruding from the flower, the
stigma five-
lobed. The flowers have 10
anthers, which—like other Pyrolaceae species—are inverted at maturity and release pollen by two pores. Fruits are
capsules, slightly flattened globes, containing close to 1000 minute seeds. Though
O. secunda can look similar to species in the closely related genus
Pyrola, the single-sided
raceme is a key trait to help recognize this species.
Orthilia secunda is a perennial plant with evergreen leaves. Plants typically flower in mid-summer.
Orthilia secunda is
monoecious. The flowers of one-sided wintergreen are nectar-producing. It is visited by nectar and pollen-feeding species, primarily bees (
Knudsen and Olesen 1993). A small experiment in Minnesota by
Jensen (1961) found
O. secunda was self-incompatible. The
anthers open by two round pores at the end of tubes to release their pollen. Fruits are round
capsules, splitting open at maturity to release circa 1000 minute seeds, spread by gravity, wind and water. Plants can also grow clonally from
rhizomes (
Beatty et al. 2008).
Orthilia secunda is a widely distributed circumpolar species with a boreal-montane distribution. One-sided wintergreen occurs in every province or territory of Canada, the western states, the Great Lakes and New England to northern Virginia. In Alaska, this species occurs throughout Southeast and Southcentral to the interior, the Brooks Range and the North Slope. There are a few localities reported from southwest Alaska, not reaching the Aleutian Islands. In Denali, this species is broadly distributed across the Park, on both sides of the Alaska Range.
Details are shown in the Plots & Charts found at right, depicting recent Denali data.
Orthilia secunda has a wide elevational tolerance, occurring from 99 to 1247 m, but most commonly found on elevations of 300-500 m. On slopes above five degrees, there are more specimens from southern aspects than northern. It is found on all levels of inclination, and has a slight preference for slopes of 4-12 degrees.
Details are shown in the Plots & Charts found at right. For more on how to interpret these figures, visit Understanding Data Presented.
Wide-ranging; somewhat wet to dry, well-drained sites.