# Moneses

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For the Parthian nobleman, see [Monaeses](/source/Monaeses).

***Moneses uniflora***, the **one-flowered wintergreen** (British Isles),[1] **single delight**, **wax-flower**,[2] **shy maiden**, **star of Bethlehem** (Aleutians)[3], **St. Olaf's candlestick** (Norway), **wood nymph**, or **frog's reading lamp**,[4] is a plant of the family of [Ericaceae](/source/Ericaceae), that is indigenous to moist coniferous forests in temperate regions of the [Northern Hemisphere](/source/Northern_Hemisphere) from Spain to Japan and across North America. It is the sole member of genus ***Moneses***.

## Taxonomy

The genus *Moneses* originates from the Greek word *moses*, which translates to 'solitary', and *hesia*, meaning 'delight', referencing the single flower which blooms on the plant.[5] The plant is also referred to as **wood nymph**, referencing a [nature goddess](/source/Nymph) figure in [Greek mythology](/source/Greek_mythology) that lived in forests and resembled beautiful women.[5]

## Description and range

*Moneses uniflora* is a small plant, typically no taller than 10 cm tall.[5] A [perennial](/source/Perennial_plant) [herb](/source/Herb) with a slender rhizome, the leaves are basal or low, oval-elliptic to obovate, from 10 to 30 mm in diameter, with small teeth. The [petiole](/source/Petiole_(botany)) is shorter than the leaf diameter. Each stem terminates in a nodding, fragrant flower on a stem from 30 to 170 mm high. The [corolla](/source/Corolla_(flower)) has a diameter of 15 to 25 mm. The spreading five white petals are slightly rumpled and are said to resemble an open white umbrella.[5] The [sepals](/source/Sepal) are oval, separate and white-greenish. The flower has ten anthers, a noticeable style, and a distinctive five-pronged stigma.[5] Flowering occurs from May to October.[6]

*Moneses uniflora* has floral features (like poricidal anthers and small apical pores) consistent with flowers that reproduce through [buzz pollination](/source/Buzz_pollination).[7] The single delight's nodding flower and anther's small apical pores allow for bees in flight to sonicate mid-flight, releasing and transferring pollen between flowers.[7] Although attractive to bees, the flower produces no nectar, and reproduces through seed.[8]

The plant grows in moist forest environments in the [holartic realm](/source/Holarctic_realm)[9] and is commonly found across North America and Eurasia.[10] The plant flourishes in coniferous forest conditions in cooler temperatures,[6] and is often found growing on moss and rotting plant material.[10]

## Use in Indigenous cultures

*Moneses uniflora* has long and significant histories with several [Indigenous nations](/source/Indigenous_peoples_of_North_America) across North America.

The [Haida people](/source/Haida_people) harvested *Moneses uniflora* in July then dried it. The flower and fruit-producing parts of the plant were removed, while the vegetative parts were boiled into a tea,[11] sometimes with licorice fern and [Labrador tea](/source/Labrador_tea).[10] The tea was used to soothe [colds](/source/Cold), the [flu](/source/Flu), [smallpox](/source/Smallpox) and [cancer](/source/Cancer). The Haida people also drank it for power and luck.[11] In one Haida story,[12] the "Copper Salmon", the gambling son of a chief is sent to the forest to consume medicine; first [devil's club](/source/Devil's_club), then *Moneses uniflora* or in the Haida language, *xiláawg*.[13] Consuming these plants cleanses his intestines and gives him the power to stop his behaviour.

The [Makah people](/source/Makah) also boiled *Moneses uniflora* with Labrador tea and licorice fern, using the entire plant to soothe coughs.[11] They also used the plant to draw blisters.[14]

The [Kwakwaka'wakw](/source/Kwakwaka%CA%BCwakw) people have used *Moneses uniflora* in poultices for swelling and pain, as it causes blisters.[11] The blisters would be opened with broken [mussel](/source/Mussel) shells and smeared with [catfish](/source/Catfish) oil.[14] When the loose skin peeled off, the site would be washed with gooseberry root extract and covered with [plantain leaves](/source/Plantain_leaves) until healed.[14]

## Applications in science

Several [First Nations](/source/First_Nations_in_Canada) within North America have indicated *Moneses uniflora* as a [traditional medicine](/source/Traditional_medicine) for [tuberculosis](/source/Tuberculosis).[6] Some scientific studies have explored the [antifungal](/source/Antifungal), [antiviral](/source/Antiviral), and [antibiotic](/source/Antibiotic) properties of single delight flower extracts, and found that aerial parts from *Moneses uniflora* have inhibited growth against *[M. tuberculosis](/source/M._tuberculosis)* and *[M. avium](/source/M._avium)* [mycobacteria](/source/Mycobacteria).[6][15]

## References

1. Pojar, Jim & MacKinnon, Andy (2004). *Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast*. Vancouver, Canada: Lone Pine Publishing. p. 224. ISBN 1-55105-530-9.

1. ["SINGLE DELIGHT, SHY MAIDEN (LOCALLY STAR OF BETHLEHEM)"](https://alutiiqmuseum.org/medicinal-plants/single-delight-shy-maiden). *Alutiiq Museum Archaeological Repository*. Retrieved 9 June 2020.

1. Garibaldi, Ann (1999). *Medicinal Flora of the Alaska Natives*. Anchorage, Alaska, United States: Alaska Natural Heritage Program. p. 104.

1. Jennings, Neil L. (2006). *Uncommon beauty : wildflowers and flowering shrubs of southern Alberta and southeastern British Columbia*. Victoria, B.C.: Rocky Mountain Books. ISBN 978-1-897522-75-2. [OCLC 288057618](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/288057618)

1. Li, Haoxin; Bos, Allyson; Jean, Stéphanie; Webster, Duncan; Robichaud, Gilles A.; Johnson, John A.; Gray, Christopher A. (2018-10-01). ["Antimycobacterial 1,4-\[*sic*\] natural products from Moneses uniflora"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1874390018303446). *Phytochemistry Letters*. **27**: 229–233. [doi:10.1016/j.phytol.2018.07.032](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phytol.2018.07.032). [ISSN 1874-3900](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1874-3900). [S2CID 92276948](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:92276948)

1. Knudsen, Jette T. & Olesen, Jens Mogens (1993). ["Buzz-Pollination and Patterns in Sexual Traits in North European Pyrolaceae"](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.1537-2197.1993.tb15311.x). *American Journal of Botany*. **80** (8): 900–913. [doi:10.1002/j.1537-2197.1993.tb15311.x](https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1537-2197.1993.tb15311.x). [ISSN 1537-2197](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1537-2197)

1. ["Wood Nymph"](https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/moneses_uniflora.shtml). *www.fs.fed.us*. Retrieved 2021-12-06.

1. Egorov, Alexey V.; Zernov, Alexander S.; Onipchenko, Vladimir G. (2020), ["North-Western Caucasus"](http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-45212-4_9), *Plant Biogeography and Vegetation of High Mountains of Central and South-West Asia*. Vol. 17, Noroozi, Jalil (ed.), Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 315–360, [doi:10.1007/978-3-030-45212-4_9](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45212-4_9). ISBN 978-3-030-45211-7. [S2CID 226671919](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:226671919), retrieved 2021-12-06

1. ["Single delight • Moneses uniflora"](https://www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org/single-delight-bull-moneses-uniflora.html). *Biodiversity of the Central Coast*. Retrieved 2021-12-06.

1. Pojar, Jim; MacKinnon, A. (Andrew); Alaback, Paul B. *Plants of coastal British Columbia: including Washington, Oregon & Alaska*. [OCLC 1057317701](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1057317701)

1. Swanton, John Reed (1975). *Haida texts--Masset dialect*. AMS Press. ISBN 0-404-58127-7. [OCLC 1229352](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1229352)

1. ["Sealaskaheritage.com"](http://sealaskaheritage.com/sites/default/files/haida-dictionary-web.pdf). *sealaskaheritage.com*. Retrieved 2021-12-20.

1. Turner, Nancy Chapman & Bell, Marcus A. M. (July 1973). ["The ethnobotany of the Southern Kwakiutl Indians of British Columbia"](http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/bf02907532). *Economic Botany*. **27** (3): 257–310. [doi:10.1007/bf02907532](https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02907532). [ISSN 0013-0001](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0013-0001). [S2CID 32072555](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:32072555)

1. McCutcheon, A.R.; Stokes, R.W.; Thorson, L.M.; Ellis, S.M.; Hancock, R.E.W.; Towers, G.H.N. (1997-01-01). "Anti-Mycobacterial Screening of British Columbian Medicinal Plants". *International Journal of Pharmacognosy*. **35** (2): 77–83. [doi:10.1076/phbi.35.2.77.13284](https://doi.org/10.1076/phbi.35.2.77.13284). [ISSN 0925-1618](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0925-1618)

## External links

- [Calflora](http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=5669)
- [Jepson Flora Project (1993)](http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?3449,3577,3578)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Moneses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moneses) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moneses?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.