Shortia is a very rare evergreen herbaceous perennial with round, glossy, dark green leaves. Shortia is listed here as a shrub solely because the USDA PLANTS database lists it as a subshrub. Shortia spreads by underground runners.
The native habitat for Shortia is streambanks and slopes of gorges in high rainfall areas, usually in deep shade. The photographs here are of an apparently planted patch in a ravine near the Eno River, far from its native range.
Planted specimen of var. galacifolia, Occoneechee Mountain, Orange Co., NC 4/4/09.
The leaves, which are all basal, are similar to those of Galax (Galax urceolata) but smaller, with pale veins and wavy margins, and without basal lobes. The specific epithet galacifolia means "with Galax-like leaves".
Occoneechee Mountain, Orange Co., NC 4/4/09.
Oconee Bells blooms in early spring. The solitary white to pinkish bell-shaped flowers are borne on leafless stalks.
Occoneechee Mountain, Orange Co., NC 4/4/09.
Shortia galacifolia is famed for being a long lost plant. For fifty years after Andre Michaux discovered it in 1788, the specimen, which had fruits but no flowers, languished in a Paris herbarium. Asa Gray discovered the herbarium sheet and named the plant, but was not able to find it despite much effort. Another five decades passed before any botanist laid eyes on a live plant again! See the links below for more on the story.
Occoneechee Mountain, Orange Co., NC 4/4/09.
Occoneechee Mountain, Orange Co., NC 4/4/09.
