Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Erechtites hieraciifolius
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Fireweed at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Erechtites hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Erechtites hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Erechtites hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Erechtites hieraciifolia var. hieraciifolia
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-20-001:
Erechtites hieracifolia FAMILY Asteraceae__
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Erechtites hieracifolia
COMMON NAME:
Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Gill Newberry gn06_erichtites_plant
June
Lvs alternately spiraling, sharply serrate to irregularly lobed (variable), per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm140718_960
July Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm130824_563
August Spartanburg County SC
Leaf shape elliptic to lanceolate; leaf tip acute to acuminate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm130824_567
August Spartanburg County SC
Leaf base cuneate to attenuate or upper stem leaves auriculate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm130824_569
August Spartanburg County SC
Stem slightly hairy or not, fleshy, grooved, solid with white pith, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
Gill Newberry gn09_e_flowers
September
Small cylindric flower heads in clusters terminating stem and branches, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
Gill Newberry gn09_erichtites_inf
September
)
JK Marlow jkm060903_098
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Heads cylindrical but swollen at the base, bracts equal & in a single series, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm090913_003
September Pickens County SC
Numerous fine, soft, bright white hairs, persistent on wind-dispersed seeds, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm090913_003b
September Pickens County SC
Nutlets tapered, brown, ribbed, topped by soft and bright-white bristles, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm120908_327333
September Greenville County SC
The whitish corollas are barely visible above the involucres, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
COMPARE
Dame's Rocket and Fireweed
)
JK Marlow jkm120908_341
September Greenville County SC
Leaves irregularly serrate to dentate, unlobed or lobed, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm210903_3311
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm231010_5906
October Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm231019_6115
October Greenville County SC
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmehieracifolia_3
October
Appearing seemingly from nowhere, at small soil disturbances in forests, per Weakley's Flora.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Erechtites hieraciifolius
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Erechtites hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Erechtites hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Erechtites hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Erechtites hieraciifolia var. hieraciifolia
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-20-001:
Erechtites hieracifolia
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Erechtites hieracifolia
521
Forb
Annual
Habitat: In disturbed soil in nearly all habitats except the extremely xeric, present in most parts of the modern (beat-up) landscape at least as seedlings, liable to turn up at the smallest disturbance (such as small tree-fall tip-up mounds or campfires, even in large natural areas), most abundant in areas extensively disturbed or scarified by timber-harvest, bulldozing, or severe fire, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
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.)
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Does not have milky sap
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Disc: Whitish
Rays: Absent
Inferior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Brown
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p062
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p418
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p283
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p130
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p251
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p075
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p292
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p341
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p183
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p313
- Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses (Murphy et al., 1992) p092
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