Montane, subalpine. Boggy woodlands, meadows, and streambanks. Summer.
Haviland Lake Trail, July 1, 2005.

These lovely Pyrolas can be obscured by grasses in boggy meadows (as in this photograph) or be very obvious at the side of the trail in moist open forests (bottom photograph).  Pyrola rotundifolia grows to 15 inches tall and spreads in large colonies.  It is usually the large, shiny green, thick mat of  leaves that first catches our attention.

Because of the resemblance of the basal leaves of this plant to the leaves of a Pear Tree, Linnaeus gave it the name "Pyrola", a diminutive of "Pyrus", the Pear Tree.

Montane, subalpine. Boggy woodlands, meadows, and streambanks. Summer.
Haviland Lake Trail, July 1, 2005.

Montane, subalpine. Boggy woodlands, meadows, and streambanks. Summer.
Ice Lakes Trail, September 2, 2005.

Pyrola rotundifolia seed pods are lovely works of art in themselves.  Leaves stay lustrous green late in the season when seed pods develop their Elephant trunks: