Index / Search / Chimaphila umbellata
§1 Plant — species · Pyrolaceae
Chimaphila umbellata (L.) W.P.C. Barton
vernacular pipsissewa
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Dicot
- Family
- Pyrolaceae Lindl.
- Genus
- Chimaphila
§2a
Native status, by region
- AK Alaska Native
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- Medium
- Shade
- Low
- Moisture use
- Low
- Fire
- High
- Salinity
- None
- Anaerobic
- None
- CaCO₃
- Low
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -38 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 85 min.
- Precipitation
- 30–55 in/yr
- pH range
- 5.4–7.4
- Root depth
- 8 in min.
- Fertility need
- Medium
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Lifespan
- Long
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft
- Foliage texture
- Medium
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Dense
- Porosity (winter)
- Dense
- Flower colour
- White
- Fruit colour
- Brown
- Fire resistant
- Yes
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Seed abundance
- Low
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Summer
- Spread rate
- Slow
- Stratify
- No
- Propagation
- seed, sprigs, tubers
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Contracting Only
- Nursery stock
- No
- Palatable, human
- No
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Montana distribution
Recorded in 21 of 56 Montana counties.
Native · 21 counties
- Beaverhead 30001
- Carbon 30009
- Cascade 30013
- Chouteau 30015
- Deer Lodge 30023
- Flathead 30029
- Gallatin 30031
- Glacier 30035
- Granite 30039
- Judith Basin 30045
- Lincoln 30053
- Madison 30057
- Mineral 30061
- Missoula 30063
- Park 30067
- Phillips 30071
- Powell 30077
- Ravalli 30081
- Sanders 30089
- Stillwater 30095
- Teton 30099
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/CHUM ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/2888307 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25
fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z