Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Rosales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Gillenia trifoliata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Bowman's Root at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
(?)
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Gillenia trifoliata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Synthesis of the North American Flora (Kartesz, 1999)
Porteranthus trifoliatus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 097-13-001:
Gillenia trifoliata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
COMMON NAME:
Bowman's Root, Mountain Indian Physic, Fawn's Breath
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_potr11_001_lvd
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JK Marlow jkm100514_172
May Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
The hypanthium (formed from fusion of sepals, petals & stamens) is turbinate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
)
JK Marlow jkm210523_0711
May Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
Five linear, slightly twisted, unequal petals, per Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition.
)
JK Marlow jkm210523_0712
May Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
A reddish, tubular, 5-lobed calyx that persists after flowers drop, per Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast.
)
JK Marlow jkm210523_0713
May Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
)
Keith Bradley kab_g_trifoliata_0049
June Burke County NC
Pisgah National Forest
)
JK Marlow s080621_a
June Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow s090613_a
June Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
Three narrow leaflets, 2-4" long, that taper at both ends, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.
COMPARE
leaves of Bowman's Root and Indian Physic
)
JK Marlow jkm080726_094
July Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
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JK Marlow jkm190704_9768
July Jackson County NC
Foothills Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm080802_055
August Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Capsules 4.5-5mm long, pubescent to glabrate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
)
JK Marlow jkm0410p_04
October Oconee County SC
Roadside
The reddish hypanthium may cause flowers to appear pinkish at a distance, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
)
JK Marlow jkm201015_7696
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Gillenia trifoliata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
(?)
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Gillenia trifoliata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Synthesis of the North American Flora (Kartesz, 1999)
Porteranthus trifoliatus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 097-13-001:
Gillenia trifoliata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
612
Forb
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common
Look for it in moist forests, roadbanks, forest edges, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
...Moist
...Dry
LEAVES:
Palmately compound: 3 leaflets
Alternate
Leaves subsessile
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
Radially symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
5 petals
20 stamens (enclosed in the throat of the hypanthium)
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South p142
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee p162
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers p068
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p152
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide p232
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p092
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States p025
- Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition p092
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition p114
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p118
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p151
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p072