Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Magnoliids: Piperales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Saururus cernuus
FAMILY
Saururaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Saururus from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Saururus cernuus
FAMILY
Saururaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Saururus cernuus
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Saururus cernuus
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 050-01-001:
Saururus cernuus FAMILY Saururaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Saururus cernuus
COMMON NAME:
Lizard's-tail, Water-dragon
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_sace_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_sace_004_lvd
)
Keith Bradley kab_s_cernuus_73563
March Collier County FL
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
Leaves are broad, pale green, heart-shaped, and entire, per All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999).
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Keith Bradley kab_s_cernuus_73566
March Collier County FL
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
Similar to Fairywand's inflorescence, but not to its leaves or habitat, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
COMPARE
Fairywand and Lizard's Tail
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JK Marlow jkm0506k_15
June Union County SC
Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_saururus_cernuus_6
June
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JK Marlow jkm070703_099
July Raleigh County WV
Sandstone Falls
)
JK Marlow jkm070703_106
July Raleigh County WV
Creekside/Riverside
)
JK Marlow jkm070703_117
July Raleigh County WV
Creekside/Riverside
Perennial wetland herb that forms large colonies from underground rhizomes, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
Steve Marlow snm070703d101_057
July Raleigh County WV
Creekside/Riverside
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Saururus cernuus
FAMILY
Saururaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Saururus cernuus
FAMILY
Saururaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Saururus cernuus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Saururus cernuus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 050-01-001:
Saururus cernuus
FAMILY
Saururaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Saururus cernuus
1332
Marginal emergent aquatic (rooted); Forb
Perennial
Habitat: swamps, overwash pools in stream floodplains, freshwater and oligohaline tidal marshes, semipermanently inundated rocky bars and shores, beaver ponds, ditches, usually where water ponds seasonally or periodically. In swamps of the Coastal Plain, Saururus often is dominant in large patches, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in Mountains)
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
RHIZOMES? STOLONS?
Rhizomatous
FLOWER:
Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall
White (filaments)
Sepals absent
Petals absent
3-7 stamens
Inflorescence a spike
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p250
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p159
- Field Guide to Aquatic Plants of Alabama (Lovell, 2007) p33
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p168
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p290
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p402
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p209
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p124
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p001
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p058
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p324
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p026
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p045
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p030