Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Nabalus serpentaria
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Lion's-foot Rattlesnake-root at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Pursh (1814) capitalized the epithet (in Prenanthes), indicating that he regarded the epithet as a noun in apposition, not an adjective; the correct spelling of the epithet in Nabalus is therefore "serpentaria". Read more in Weakley's Flora (2022).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Prenanthes serpentaria
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Nabalus serpentarius
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Prenanthes serpentaria
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Prenanthes serpentaria
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-06-006:
Prenanthes serpentaria FAMILY Asteraceae_
INCLUDING & INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Nabalus integrifolius
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Nabalus serpentarius
COMMON NAME:
Lion's-foot Rattlesnake-root, Gall-of-the-Earth
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_nase3_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm130922_428
September Pickens County SC
Table Rock State Park
)
JK Marlow jkm130922_430
September Pickens County SC
Table Rock State Park
)
JK Marlow jkm130922_435
September Pickens County SC
Table Rock State Park
Principal (inner) involucral bracts much longer than smaller (outer) ones, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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JK Marlow jkm180924_4893
September McCormick County SC
Parks Mill
)
JK Marlow jkm180925_4989
September Greenville County SC
Inner bracts minutely bristly, outer narrowly lanceolate. Rays yellow-white, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_p_serpentaria_1
September Catawba County NC
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_p_serpentaria_1987
September Catawba County NC
Involucre has 8 principal bracts w a few long coarse hairs, oft black-dotted, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
COMPARE
involucral bracts of Rattlesnake-root
)
JK Marlow jkm211003_4046
October Greenville County SC
Principal leaves usually evidently lobed, per Weakley's Flora (2023).
)
JK Marlow jkm211003_4081
October Greenville County SC
Lion's-foot Rattlesnake-root has tan-colored pappus (feathery hairs attached to seeds), per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
)
JK Marlow jkm211003_4083
October Greenville County SC
Lower lvs pinnately lobed, rather rounded (vs. most other Nabalus sp. palmately lobed, angular), per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
)
JK Marlow jkm211012_4258
October Greenville County SC
Blackwell Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm231025_6346
October Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm231025_6347
October Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_p_serpentaria_li
October
)
JK Marlow jkm061105_039
November Oconee County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm061105_055
November Oconee County SC
)
JK Marlow s061105_a
November Oconee County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Nabalus serpentaria
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Prenanthes serpentaria
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Nabalus serpentarius
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Prenanthes serpentaria
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Prenanthes serpentaria
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-06-006:
Prenanthes serpentaria
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
INCLUDING & INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Nabalus integrifolius
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Nabalus serpentarius
2220
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate, reduced upward
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Rays: Yellowish-white
Disc: Absent
Inferior ovary
Ray flowers bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Reddish-brown
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p172
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p287
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p186
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p246
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p108
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p318
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p368
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p173
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
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