Flower:

Raceme of 3 to 11 nodding flowers on short stalks at the top of the stem. Flowers are white, often tinged with pink and/or green, the 5 rounded, oval petals typically barely opening, making a globe-like blossom ¼ to 1/3 inch across. The brown-tipped stamens are mostly hidden under the petals with the short, straight and greenish, 5-parted style just extended to the flower opening.

The 5 sepals are triangular, light green or tinged red, and about ¼ as long as the petals.

Leaves and stems:

The leaves are basal or nearly so, the thin blade broadly elliptic or nearly round, ¾ to 1-1/8 inch long and ½ to 1 inch wide with smooth surfaces and minutely toothed edges, the slender stalk ½ to 1¼ inches long. The single stem of the flower stalk is erect and smooth

Notes:

Small Shinleaf is the rarest of Minnesota's five Pyrola species and also its smallest. It spreads by underground stems (rhizomes) and can be found in colonies of a few to dozens of plants. While it may be confused with our two other white pyrolas, Round-leaved Pyrola (Pyrola americana) and Shinleaf (Pyrola elliptica), both of these have flowers that open widely, with a long curved style that hangs below the flower like an elephant's trunk. The leaves of Small Shinleaf resemble those of One-sided Pyrola (Orthilia secunda) and may be found growing right next to it, but the one-sided flowering stem of O. secunda sets these two apart. Small Shinleaf is also a far northern species, its range is restricted to cool, moist upland forests and swamps of Cook, Lake and St. Louis counties with the vast majority in Cook. Pyrola minor was listed by the DNR as a Special concern species in 1996. It is listed as Endangered in Wisconsin.