Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Santalales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Pyrularia pubera
FAMILY
Santalaceae
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read about Buffalo Nut from Lytton Musselman and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Read more about Buffalo-nut at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pyrularia pubera
FAMILY
Santalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 060-04-001:
Pyrularia pubera
FAMILY
Santalaceae
COMMON NAME:
Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_pypu_001_lvd
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JK Marlow jkm140417_029
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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JK Marlow jkm150424_692693
April Blount County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Calyx 5-lobed; petals absent; style short & thick, per Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast.
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JK Marlow jkm180427_1588
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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JK Marlow jkm0405j_18
May Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm060508_141
May Macon County NC
Nantahala National Forest: Wayah Ranger District
Inflorescence an erect terminal spike with greenish apetalous flowers, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont.
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JK Marlow jkm140517_808
May Transylvania County NC
Leaves thin, the veins on the lower surface raised, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC.
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Keith Bradley kab_p_pubera_73417
May NC
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JK Marlow s040503_e
May Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Leaves alternate, elliptic, apple green, thin, per Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast.
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JK Marlow jkm080629_050
June Greenville County SC
Chandler Heritage Preserve
The source of the primary common name requires little imagination, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC.
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JK Marlow jkm080629_053
June Greenville County SC
Chandler Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm0310b_12
October Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
Fruit a pear-shaped fleshy drupe with a very acrid poisonous oil, per Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast.
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JK Marlow jkm151024_564
October Greenville County SC
Blue Wall Preserve
Twigs grayish to lt brown; buds 5-12mm w several greenish imbricate scales, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide.
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JK Marlow jkm201107_8050
November Greenville County SC
Caesars Head State Park
Fall color all around, but this Buffalo-nut is still fiercely green.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Pyrularia pubera
FAMILY
Santalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pyrularia pubera
FAMILY
Santalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 060-04-001:
Pyrularia pubera
FAMILY
Santalaceae
1177
Shrub
Perennial
Dioecious
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common in Mtns & NC Pdmt, uncommon to rare elsewhere (endemic to S. & C. App's)
Look for it in moist forests, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring
Unisexual
5-lobed calyx
Petals absent
5 stamens
Inferior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Drupe
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p144
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast p058
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge p31
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont p299
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide p258