Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Veronicastrum virginicum
FAMILY
Plantaginaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Culver's-root at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Veronicastrum virginicum
FAMILY
Scrophulariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Veronicastrum virginicum
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 166-19-001:
Veronicastrum virginicum FAMILY Scrophulariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Veronicastrum virginicum
COMMON NAME:
Culver's-root, Culver's-physic
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_vevi4_005_lvd
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_v_virginicum_7
June
)
JK Marlow jkm070703_035
July Summers County WV
Sandstone Visitors Center
The tallest plants in this family have some of the smallest flowers, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm070703_037
July Summers County WV
Sandstone Visitors Center
It grows to 7' tall and has whorls of toothed lanceolate leaves, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm070703_053
July Summers County WV
Sandstone Visitors Center
)
JK Marlow jkm070703_054
July Summers County WV
Sandstone Visitors Center
)
JK Marlow jkm070703_055
July Summers County WV
Sandstone Visitors Center
Flowers born in showy spikes, terminal or from upper leaf whorls, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_v_virginicum_11a
July
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_v_virginicum_9
July
)
Stephanie C. Brundage scb_072022SHighlandsRes70
July Transylvania County NC
Southern Highlands Reserve, Lake Toxaway
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Veronicastrum virginicum
FAMILY
Plantaginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Veronicastrum virginicum
FAMILY
Scrophulariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Veronicastrum virginicum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 166-19-001:
Veronicastrum virginicum
FAMILY
Scrophulariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Veronicastrum virginicum
1617
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Streambanks, bogs, wet meadows, moist prairies, dryish soils in areas with prairie affinities, woodlands on high pH soils, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Uncommon (rare in GA Piedmont, rare in SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Whorls of 3-7
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
White/Cream
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
2-lipped 4-lobed cylindrical or weakly salverform corolla
2 strongly exserted stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p280
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p187
- Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p178
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p160
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p082
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p335
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p249
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p292
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p156
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
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Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".