Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Trientalis borealis
FAMILY
Primulaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Northern Starflower at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
"The attractive white corollas, usually with 7 petals united only at the very base, are open in the late spring and they drop intact – like fallen stars" (Voss 1996). This species can be recognized by its terminal whorl of leaves (4-10cm long), the one to several white flowers borne on terminal, slender pedicels, each flower typically with 7 petals (inconspicuously united at the bases), each petal acuminate. Read more in Weakley's Flora (2023).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Trientalis borealis ssp. borealis
FAMILY
Primulaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Lysimachia borealis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 8 (2009)
Trientalis borealis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Trientalis borealis ssp. borealis
INCLUDED WITHIN Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Trientalis borealis
COMMON NAME:
Northern Starflower, Maystar
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_tram11_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm100730_200
July Jackson County NC
Balsam Mountain Preserve
Leaves may be different sizes and shapes on a single plant, per Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007).
)
Penny Longhurst pen_20170718_155908
July Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada
Squid Jiggin Point
)
Penny Longhurst pen_20170718_160029
July Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada
Squid Jiggin Point
Flowers 1/4-1/2" wide with 7 spreading, oval to lance-shaped, pointy-tipped petals and 7 stamens, per Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019).
)
Penny Longhurst pen_20190717_072614
July Penobscot County ME
Baxter State Park
Distal leaf blades lanceolate to lanceolate-elliptic, widest at midlength, apex acute to acuminate, per Flora of North America.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Trientalis borealis
FAMILY
Primulaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Trientalis borealis ssp. borealis
FAMILY
Primulaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Lysimachia borealis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 8
Trientalis borealis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Trientalis borealis ssp. borealis
INCLUDED WITHIN
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Trientalis borealis
3437
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: northern hardwood forests, rich slope forests, often in second-growth areas, per Weakley's Flora
Native to North Carolina & Georgia
Rare
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
A single terminal whorl
RHIZOMES? STOLONS?
Rhizomes slender, creeping
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
Radially symmetrical
7 petals
7 stamens
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p405
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p174
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p122
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".