Pyrola minor

9.9

A small evergreen plant with clusters of pink-tinged white flowers that grows in northern woodlands

noun

Specialized

: Pyrola menor

The pink-tinged blooms of Pyrola minor appear in clusters during early summer.

Examples

Pyrola minor is often found growing in moist woodlands across northern Europe and North America.
Botanists documented Pyrola minor alongside other wintergreen species in the reserve.
Look at that stunning Pyrola minor over there!
The Pyrola minor blooms in clusters of pink-tinged white flowers.
Pyrola minor is often found growing in moist woodlands across northern Europe and North America.
The pink-tinged blooms of Pyrola minor appear in clusters during early summer.
The Pyrola minor blooms in clusters of pink-tinged white flowers.

Synonyms

lesser wintergreen

vsPyrola minor

9.9

A small plant that lives for many years and has pale pink flowers on the forest floor

is the formal scientific species name for the same plant

Surface Forms

Pyrola minor singular

Pyrola minors plural

Morphology

Pyrola + minor

The name is a straightforward taxonomic binomial combining the genus Pyrola (a wintergreen/shinleaf herb) with the adjective minor, which in this context means 'smaller' or 'lesser', so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes the smaller/lesser species of Pyrola (lesser wintergreen). Binomial species names are descriptive and follow cross-linguistic naming conventions, so the meaning is compositional rather than idiomatic.

Etymology

Pyrola minor may come from Latin: Pyrola is linked to the word for 'pear' because the plant's round leaves look a little like pear leaves, and minor means 'smaller'. So the name points to a 'smaller pear-like' plant and helps explain the common name 'lesser wintergreen'.