Plants rhizomatous, 1.2-2.7 (-3.3) dm. Leaves: petiole 4-20 mm, channeled adaxially, glabrous; blade dull and light green abaxially, shiny and green adaxially, (10-)20-47(-58) × 7-28(-35) mm, base rounded to acute, apex rounded to acute. Inflorescences (2-)3-29-flowered; peduncle 10-20(-25) cm, peduncular bracts absent or 2-7, subulate to narrowly or broadly lanceolate, 3-9 × 1-2 mm, membranous, margins entire or erose-denticulate; inflorescence bracts subulate to lanceolate-ovate or narrowly ovate, ca. as long as pedicels they subtend, 4-9 × 0.4-1.8 mm, herbaceous. Pedicels (1-)3-7(-9) mm. Flowers: calyx lobes appressed or spreading in fruit, entirely green or margins hyaline to white or pinkish, 0.5-1.5 × 0.5-1.3 mm, margins erose-denticulate, sometimes obscurely so, apex rounded to obtuse; petals broadly ovate, 4.5-6 × 3-4 mm, margins erose-denticulate or irregularly toothed; stamens 4-8 mm; filament base 0.1-0.3 mm wide; anthers 1.2-1.8 mm, thecae tan or light brown, pores 0.2-0.5 × 0.2-0.4 mm; ovary smooth; style 3-5(-7) mm; stigma 1.4-2 mm wide. Capsules depressed-globose, 3-5 × 4-6 mm. 2n = 38. Flowering Jun-Aug. Dry to moist, coniferous, mixed, and deciduous forests, bogs, arctic and alpine tundra; 10-3200 m; Greenland; St. Pierre and Miquelon; Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., N.S., Nunavut, Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask., Yukon; Alaska, Ariz., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.Mex., N.Y., N.Dak., Ohio, Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.Dak., Utah, Vt., Va., Wash., Wis., Wyo.; Mexico; Central America (Guatemala); Eurasia. Plants in open, alpine and arctic habitats often have leaf blades orbiculate to orbiculate-ovate, 10-20 mm, apices obtuse, anthers ca. 1 mm, and styles 3-4.5 mm, and have been called Orthilia secunda subsp. obtusata. E. Haber (1972) concluded that these characters vary too freely among populations to warrant distinction. The Southern Carrier of British Columbia made a decoction from the roots, which they used as an eyewash (D. E. Moerman 1998).

Plant: Perennial rhizomatous, scapose herbs or sub-shrubs Leaves: alternate, simple, generally leathery, clustered in false yearly whorls; blades ovate, elliptic, to obovate (1-)2-4(-6) cm long; margins entire to crenate; petioles generally shorter than blades SCAPES: bracteate, under 20 cm tall, the bracts lanceolate to narrowly oblong or obovate, generally longer than the pedicels INFLORESCENCE: inflorescence a one-sided drooping raceme, minutely papillate Flowers: drooping, actinomorphic, bell-like; sepals ovate, generally about 1 mm long, the tips blunt, the margins finely erose; petals greenish to cream-white, (4-)4.5-5.5(-6) mm long, with two basal tubercles on upper side; filaments narrow; anther sacs minutely papillate, 1.3-2.0 mm long, without tubes, the sacs open at the ends; pollen grains single, ellipsoid; disk present; style straight, exserted; stigma peltate, with 5 small marginal lobes Fruit: FRUITS 5-locular drooping capsules with fibers connecting opened valves; fruiting axis becomes erect at maturity NOTES: Coniferous forest: Apache, Coconino, Graham, Greenlee, Pima? cos.; 2100-3400 m (7000-11000 ft); Jul-Aug; widespread in N. Hemisphere; across Canada s to CA and NM, ne to SD and in ne states, also in Mex. and Guatemala. REFERENCES: Haber, Erich. 1992. Pyrolaceae. Ariz.-Nev. Acad. Sci. 26(1)2.