OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Chionanthus virginicus   FAMILY Oleaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Chionanthus virginicus   FAMILY Oleaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 153-03-001:

Chionanthus virginicus   FAMILY Oleaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Chionanthus virginica

 

COMMON NAME:
Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905)    mtna_i_887

        

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_chvi3_001_lvd

        

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service    pnd_chvi3_009_lvd

        

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_chvi3_012_lvd

        

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

Gill Newberry    gn04_c_at_river_edge

April        

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

Gill Newberry    gn04_chioanthus_flowers

April        

Four sepals, each 1-2mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm0204v_09a

April    Greenville County    SC

A traditional southern yard plant, often used as a "specimen plant", per Weakley's Flora.

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm0404k_34

April    Rutherford County    NC

Chimney Rock Park

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm200425_4215

April    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm200428_4403

April    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm220419_6957

April    Pickens County    SC

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm220419_6960

April    Pickens County    SC

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm220419_6966

April    Pickens County    SC

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm220421_7139

April    Pickens County    SC

Nine Times Preserve

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm220421_7186

April    Pickens County    SC

Nine Times Forest

Petioles narrowly winged, maroon or blackish purple, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_c_virginicus_5

April        

The flowers have unmistakable, creamy-white, 0.75-1.25" strap-shaped petals, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_c_virginicus_male_1

April        

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm180506_2003

May    Crawford County    GA

Each panicle w tripartite branching & sometimes pairs of small leafy bracts, per www.illinoiswildflowers.info.

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

Ron Lance    rwl319_a

May        

Large drooping clusters of small fragrant flowers with 4 linear white petals, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm0407b_18

July    Rutherford County    NC

Chimney Rock Park

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm0407b_19

July    Rutherford County    NC

Chimney Rock Park

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm120804_259

August    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

Pistillate plants produce oval, purplish drupes to 2cm long, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm120804_261

August    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm210903_3251

September    Greenville County    SC

Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm210903_3252

September    Greenville County    SC

Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    s080919_a

September    Greenville County    SC

Leaves elliptic or obovate, leaf base cuneate to attenuate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm101120_272

November    Greenville County    SC

image of Chionanthus virginicus, Fringetree, Grancy Graybeard, Old Man's Beard, Grandsir-graybeard

JK Marlow    jkm101120_277

November    Greenville County    SC

Bark is gray, mostly smooth, but marked by numerous raised lenticels, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Chionanthus virginicus   FAMILY Oleaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Chionanthus virginicus   FAMILY Oleaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 153-03-001:
Chionanthus virginicus   FAMILY Oleaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Chionanthus virginica

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

319

Shrub; Tree
Perennial
Dioecious or polygamous

Habitat: Dry, mesic, or wet forests and woodlands, granitic flatrocks and domes, glades and barrens over various rocks (including granite, greenstone, etc.), swamp forests in the Coastal Plain, tidal swamps, rarely pocosins, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common

map
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:
Deciduous
Simple
Opposite

FLOWER:
Spring
White
Radially symmetrical
4-merous
4 sepals
4 petals
Bisexual or functionally unisexual

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Blue
Drupe

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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