Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Chrysogonum repens
FAMILY
Asteraceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Plants form patches, the individuals connected via surficial stolons (runners). Nesom (2001) provided a new name for stoloniferous plants: C. virginianum var. brevistolon; and in 2020 (article in Phytoneuron) raised it to species level as C. repens. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
In the past, only one species was recognized in this genus – Chrysogonum virginianum. It ranged naturally from New York south to Louisiana and Florida. Looking closer, however, botanists and horticulturists noted differences. Most obviously, some develop into tight clumps while others form mats. Newer botanical references and a few nurseries divide green and gold into two or three varieties or species. Read more at SCNPS's Plant of the Month
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Chrysogonum virginianum var. brevistolon
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Chrysogonum virginianum var. brevistolon
INCLUDED WITHIN Chrysogonum (Asteraceae) revisited again (Nesom, 2020)
Chrysogonum repens
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Chrysogonum virginianum var. brevistolon
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-56-001b:
Chrysogonum virginianum var. australe FAMILY Asteraceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Chrysogonum australe
COMMON NAME:
Carolina Green-and-gold
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Harry Davis hld322_a
February-March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
Flowers have 5 broad, fertile yellow rays up to 1/2" long, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Harry Davis hld322_b
February-March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
The 25-50 disc florets are functionally staminate, per Flora of North America.
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JK Marlow jkm0403b_11
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
It begins to bloom early in the Spring before foliage attains full size, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Jose Villa jov_031123_1558
March Oconee County SC
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JK Marlow jkm070407_056
April McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
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JK Marlow jkm080405_029
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
The hairy leaves are long-petioled, with ovate, scalloped blades, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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JK Marlow jkm080405_034
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
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JK Marlow jkm190412_7210
April Rabun County GA
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JK Marlow jkm190412_7254
April Rabun County GA
Plants colonial, forming mats by stolons, per Weakley's Flora (2023).
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JK Marlow jkm220419_7033
April Pickens County SC
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Keith Bradley kab_c_virg_brevistol_1229
April Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
)
Keith Bradley kab_c_virg_brevistol_5446
April McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_virginianums_b
April
Laminae [blades] of the rays broadly elliptic, with 3-toothed apices, per Flora of North America.
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Tim Spira tps_cvirginianum2
April
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JK Marlow jkm170507_706
May Transylvania County NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District Visitors Center
)
JK Marlow jkm170507_707
May Transylvania County NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District Visitors Center
)
JK Marlow jkm200502_4537
May Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Earliest flowering stems leafless; later ones leafy; longest stolon internodes 2-6cm long, per Weakley's Flora (2023).
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Chuck Hubbuch chk_080823_0796
August Pickens County SC
in cultivation
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JK Marlow jkm131029_151
October Pickens County SC
Table Rock State Park
Late October!
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Chrysogonum repens
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Chrysogonum virginianum var. brevistolon
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Chrysogonum virginianum var. brevistolon
INCLUDED WITHIN
Chrysogonum (Asteraceae) revisited again (Nesom, 2020)
Chrysogonum repens
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Chrysogonum virginianum var. brevistolon
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-56-001b:
Chrysogonum virginianum var. australe
FAMILY
Asteraceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Chrysogonum australe
322
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Moist to fairly dry woodlands and forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Mountains, common in Piedmont of GA & SC, common in SC Coastal Plain (uncommon to rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
RHIZOMES? STOLONS?
Plants stoloniferous, stolons usually above ground
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Rays: Yellow
Disc: Yellow
Flower heads with 5(6) ray flowers
Inferior ovary
Disc flowers functionally staminate/ Ray flowers pistillate & fertile
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Black/Brown
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p131
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p115
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p115
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p187
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p236
- Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p184
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p278
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p297
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p119
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p066
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p283
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p332
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p199
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".