Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Trichostema dichotomum
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Forked Bluecurls at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Trichostema dichotomum
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Trichostema dichotomum
INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Trichostema dichotomum
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 164-01-002:
Trichostema dichotomum FAMILY Lamiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Trichostema dichotomum var. dichotomum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Trichostema dichotomum
COMMON NAME:
Common Blue Curls, Forked Bluecurls
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_trdi2_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm190129_6331
January Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm190129_6333
January Greenville County SC
Sepals remain after fruits drop, looking like tiny pointed sugar scoops, per Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011).
)
Gill Newberry gn09_t_dichotomum
September
)
Gill Newberry gn09_t_dichotomum_flower
September
Flowers are small yet orchidlike and with beautiful architecture, per Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011).
)
JK Marlow jkm0509d_20
September Greenville County SC
Field
)
JK Marlow jkm080906_001
September Greenville County SC
Leaves are entire, oblong to lanceolate, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
COMPARE
leaves of Blue Curls species
)
JK Marlow jkm080906_001b
September Greenville County SC
2-lipped corolla with 5 lobes, upper 4 ascending, lower curved downward, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm080906_005
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm140909_563
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm180913_4697
September Greenville County SC
Stems, at least the principal ones, spreading pubescent, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm180913_4699
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm180929_5124
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm200903_7073
September Greenville County SC
)
Keith Bradley kab_t_dichotoma_75086
September Miami-Dade County FL
)
Roxanna Martin rlm91111_47
September Spartanburg County SC
)
Roxanna Martin rlm91910_135
September Spartanburg County SC
Stamens curved between lateral corolla lobes & curled downward, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_t_dichotomum_2
September
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_t_dichotomum_3
September
)
JK Marlow s050910_a
September Greenville County SC
Field
)
JK Marlow jkm0410d_05
October Greenville County SC
Field
Mericarps brownish to olive or blackish, dull, obovoid, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm151107_073
November Greenville County SC
)
Roxanna Martin rlm111409_061
November Spartanburg County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Trichostema dichotomum
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Trichostema dichotomum
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Trichostema dichotomum
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Trichostema dichotomum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 164-01-002:
Trichostema dichotomum
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Trichostema dichotomum var. dichotomum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Trichostema dichotomum
1531
Forb
Annual/Weak perennial
Habitat: Dry woodlands, longleaf pine sandhills and dry flatwoods, disturbed areas, roadsides, thin soils around rock outcrops, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
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
Opposite
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Blue/Violet
Bilaterally symmetrical
2-lipped calyx
5-lobed corolla
4 exserted stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Schizocarp of mericarps
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p076
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p404
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p157
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p079
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p215
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p245
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p233
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p275
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p146
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p339
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".
Or try alternate spellings: If "wooly" doesn't work, try "woolly" or just "wool".