Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Boraginales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Hydrophyllum atranthum
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Since its naming as a species and subsequent reduction to a variety there has been little consensus about this taxon, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
Read more about Appalachian Waterleaf at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Hydrophyllum virginianum var. atranthum
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Hydrophyllum virginianum var. atranthum
INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Hydrophyllum virginianum
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 160-04-003:
Hydrophyllum virginianum FAMILY Hydrophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Two new species from the southern Appalachians (Alexander, 1941)
Hydrophyllum atranthum
INCLUDED WITHIN (ORTHOGRAPHIC ERROR) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Hydrophyllum virginicum
COMMON NAME:
Appalachian Waterleaf
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_hyvi_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_hyvi_007_lvd
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Hydrophyllum atranthum
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Hydrophyllum virginianum var. atranthum
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Hydrophyllum virginianum var. atranthum
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Hydrophyllum virginianum
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 160-04-003:
Hydrophyllum virginianum
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Two new species from the southern Appalachians (Alexander, 1941)
Hydrophyllum atranthum
INCLUDED WITHIN (ORTHOGRAPHIC ERROR)
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Hydrophyllum virginicum
4664
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Rich cove forests and other moist rocky forests, up to 5500 feet in elevation, per Weakley's Flora
Native to North Carolina
Common in NC Mountains
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Prinicipal stem leaves pinnately divided (similar to basal leaves)
Alternate & basal
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Medium or deep purple to maroon
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
5-parted campanulate calyx
5-lobed campanulate corolla
5 stamens, fused to corolla
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p066
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p228
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p072
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p210
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p207
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p244
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p134
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".