# Pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata subsp. umbellata)

> Pipsissewa, Chimaphila umbellata subsp. umbellata: a shrub of 3 to 18 inches for zones 4 to 8, when it flowers and fruits, and the states where it is native.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/pipsissewa/

![A pipsissewa plant from above, its glossy toothed leaves in whorls around pink flowers, buds and old dark capsules](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/pipsissewa-1000.jpg?v=cafa581f "Pipsissewa in the Superior National Forest, northeastern Minnesota, on August 10, 2004. Its glossy, toothed leaves grow in whorls and stay green all winter.")
*Photo: Superior National Forest, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AChimaphila_umbellata_Superior_NF_1.jpg))*

Shrub, 3 to 18 inches, zones 4 to 8; part shade or shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow pipsissewa, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers its facts and the states where it is native.

The Forest Service's seed manual knows of no successful sowing of pipsissewa seed, and seedlings are seldom found in the wild. In the soil its dust-fine seeds need a fungus to sprout, and the seedlings grow underground on fungi for several years. A laboratory has raised its seedlings to green leaves on sterile, sugared media, a method meant for research and conservation. Attempts to grow the chimaphilas often fail.

## At a glance

| Fact | Pipsissewa |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Prince's pine, common pipsissewa, noble prince's-pine, Chimaphila umbellata subsp. cisatlantica |
| Form | Shrub |
| Height, inches | 3 to 18 |
| Spread, inches | Up to 20 |
| Zones | 4 to 8 |
| Sun | Part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Showy flowers |
| Flowers | June to August |
| Fruit | Capsules, September to October |
| First crop | 7 to 8 years (first flowers) |
| Pollination | One plant bears alone. Each flower carries both male and female parts, and bumblebees are its main pollinators. In a New Brunswick study, flowers given pollen from their own plant set fruit as often as cross-pollinated ones. |
| Lifespan | Can live 18 years or more. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | The forest understory, dry uplands, sandy barrens and rocky ground |
| Native in | 24 states and the District of Columbia |

Pipsissewa is native in 24 states and the District of Columbia: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from the Fire Effects Information System and NatureServe Explorer.

## Read from

Its figures come from the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the Wildflower Center, the Flora of North America, Minnesota Wildflowers, Plants For A Future, Go Botany, NatureServe Explorer, the journal Botany, Annals of Botany and Molecular Ecology.