Round-leaf Wintergreen is a evergreen, perennial, wildflower in the wintergreen family that is native to Europe, Asia and Russia. It grows about a foot tall and wide and blooms May through August with bell-shaped racemes of fragrant white flowers. It is often found on alkaline wet sites, including bogs, fens and woods, especially beech woods, and often on limestone. Round-leaf Wintergreen does best in sandy or loamy soils, in full sun or shade. A peaty or leafy environment that remains moist in the summer is ideal. It prefers alkaline soils and you should avoid acidic PH soils. This plant can be used as a ground cover, but it is slow to get established and forms a good cover when growing luxuriantly. It can be difficult to find this plant in this country, although seeds are available. This can be a difficult plant to grow. It requires a symbiotic (mycorrhizal) relationship with fungus in the soil and therefore needs to be grown initially in soil collected from around an established plant. It is also intolerant of root disturbance which makes division difficult. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No known diseases or insect pests.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Dappled Sunlight (Shade through upper canopy all day) | Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Loam (Silt); Sand
Soil pH
Alkaline (>8.0); Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Soil drainage
Moist | Occasionally Wet
Mature size
Height: 0 ft. 6 in. - 1 ft. 3 in. | Width: 0 ft. 6 in. - 1 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Slow
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (1-3 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Clumping; Erect; Spreading
Foliage
Broadleaf Evergreen
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Ovate
Leaf margin
Crenate; Lobed
Leaf feel
Glossy; Leathery
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Leathery, shiny rounded ovate leaves with petioles often as long as the leaves in a basal rosette. Margins lobed or crenate.
Flower color
Pink; White
Flower value
Fragrant
Flower form
Raceme
Flower shape
Bell
Flower detail
Small, nodding whitish flowers with five petals in racemes in May through August. The flowers have a delicious almond-like fragrance.