Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Malpighiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Cnidoscolus stimulosus
FAMILY
Euphorbiaceae
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Virtually the whole plant is covered with short stinging hairs. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cnidoscolus urens var. stimulosus
FAMILY
Euphorbiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Synthesis of the North American Flora (Kartesz, 1999)
Cnidoscolus stimulosus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 107-01-001:
Cnidoscolus stimulosus
FAMILY
Euphorbiaceae
COMMON NAME:
Spurge-nettle, Tread-softly, Bull-nettle, Finger-rot
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_cnst_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm060423_020
April Charleston County SC
Francis Marion National Forest
Leaves deeply 3 to 5-lobed and lobes toothed (maple leaf like), per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses.
)
JK Marlow jkm180504_1691
May Meriwether-Talbot Counties GA
Sprewell Bluff WMA
Beset with stinging trichomes, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
)
JK Marlow jkm080713_039
July Aiken County SC
Aiken Gopher Tortoise Heritage Preserve
Central flower [of each cyme] usually pistillate, lateral usually staminate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
)
JK Marlow jkm080713_075
July Aiken County SC
Aiken Gopher Tortoise Heritage Preserve
Upright spherical to cylindrical pods covered by stinging hairs, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses.
)
JK Marlow jkm090717_094
July Georgetown County SC
Hobcaw Barony
)
Jerry Bright jeb_mg_6501
September Orangeburg County SC
Pollinator at work: Greater Bee Fly, Bombylius major
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Cnidoscolus stimulosus
FAMILY
Euphorbiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cnidoscolus urens var. stimulosus
FAMILY
Euphorbiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Synthesis of the North American Flora (Kartesz, 1999)
Cnidoscolus stimulosus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 107-01-001:
Cnidoscolus stimulosus
FAMILY
Euphorbiaceae
2049
Forb
Perennial
Monoecious
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common in Coastal Plain (rare in Piedmont & Mountains)
Look for it in sandhills, dry sandy woodlands, other dry sandy soils, 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.
...Dry
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Stinging trichomes present
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
Leaves have petioles.
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
Unisexual
5-lobed salverform calyx
Petals absent
10-30 stamens united at base
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses p036
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p233
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p153
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry p159
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States p046
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition p137
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region p103