Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Gentianales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Amsonia tabernaemontana
FAMILY
Apocynaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Amsonia at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Amsonia tabernaemontana var. tabernaemontana
FAMILY
Apocynaceae
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)
Amsonia tabernaemontana var. tabernaemontana
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 156-01-001:
Amsonia tabernaemontana var. tabernaemontana FAMILY Apocynaceae
INCLUDING & INCLUDED WITHIN Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Amsonia tabernaemontana var. salicifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Amsonia amsonia
SYNONYMOUS WITH Studies in the Apocynaceae. III. A monograph of the genus Amsonia (Woodson, 1928)
Amsonia tabernaemontana var. tabernaemontana
COMMON NAME:
Eastern Bluestar, Blue Dogbane, Wideleaf Bluestar
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_amam8_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm120330_198
March Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
)
JK Marlow jkm180408_1091
April McCormick County SC
Parks Mill
)
JK Marlow jkm180408_1091b
April McCormick County SC
Parks Mill
The sepals are deltoid and minute, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm200411_3752
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
This plant has milky sap, which is characteristic of Apocynaceae, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm200411_3754
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Flowers with 5 narrow spreading blue petals, in a crowded terminal cluster, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm200411_3758
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Corolla tube distally pubescent externally, lanose internally, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm200414_3789
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm200415_3850
April Greenville County SC
Chandler Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm200418_3927
April Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
Leaves 3-6" long, elliptic to ovate, with narrowed tips and a dull surface, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm220409_6569
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm220409_6578
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm220421_7092
April Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
)
Keith Bradley kab_a_tabernaemonta_3808
April Richland County SC
W. Gordon Belser Arboretum
This tall smooth plant has alternate leaves, which is unusual in Apocynaceae, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm200502_4506
May Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Notice the curves of these panicle branches. Are they always this graceful?
)
JK Marlow jkm200502_4510
May Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm200502_4516
May Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm200508_4752
May Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm190604_08945
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Fruits are paired, erect, linear follicles 2-4" long, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm190604_8941
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Its late season architecture is interesting, with leaves only on the outer side ...
)
JK Marlow jkm190604_8947
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
...of curving branches. I have not seen this mentioned anywhere.
)
JK Marlow jkm200920_7331
September Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm211106_4835
November Pickens County SC
Palmetto Trail
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Amsonia tabernaemontana
FAMILY
Apocynaceae
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Amsonia tabernaemontana var. tabernaemontana
FAMILY
Apocynaceae
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)
Amsonia tabernaemontana var. tabernaemontana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 156-01-001:
Amsonia tabernaemontana var. tabernaemontana
FAMILY
Apocynaceae
INCLUDING & INCLUDED WITHIN
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Amsonia tabernaemontana var. salicifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Amsonia amsonia
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Studies in the Apocynaceae. III. A monograph of the genus Amsonia (Woodson, 1928)
Amsonia tabernaemontana var. tabernaemontana
82
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: floodplain forests, moist, rich slope forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in Mountains)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate to nearly opposite
FLOWER:
Spring
Blue
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
Sepals minute
5-lobed salverform corolla
5 stamens
Bisexual
Inflorescence a panicle
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Paired follicles
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p095
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p038
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p148
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p100
- Guide to the Plants of Granite Outcrops (Murdy & Carter, 2000) p23
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p421
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p135
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p066
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p199
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p039
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p188
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p224
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p126
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p262
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