What Is It Wednesady: March 6, 2019

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on. 

And the answer is....

This small plant has several common names: spotted pipsissewa, striped wintergreen, and spotted wintergreen, to name a few.

I first learned this plant as “spotted wintergreen” which made no sense to me – the leaves have stripes, not spots, and it doesn’t taste like wintergreen.

It is the same size and growth pattern and similar shape as teaberry, which it sometimes grows near, and which does taste like wintergreen - so that seemed even more confusing. A wintergreen that does taste like wintergreen, and one right nearby that does not.

But, it does stay green in the winter – that explains the wintergreen part of the name. And the “spotted” may refer to the look of the small drooping white or pinkish flowers it has in the spring. It is also known as striped wintergreen, which seems like a more accurately descriptive name, or spotted pipsissewa. What a great example of the confusing nature of common plant names!

But, the benefit of common names is that they are common – people (may) know what you mean when you use the name, whereas they almost certainly will not know what you mean if you use the Latin name (Chimaphila maculata, in this case) unless you are talking with a specialist. 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!