Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Spikenard at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
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Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Apiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Aralia racemosa
FAMILY
Araliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Aralia racemosa ssp. racemosa
FAMILY
Araliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 139-03-003:
Aralia racemosa
FAMILY
Araliaceae
COMMON NAME:
Spikenard
To see a detailed map, click here
Look for it in rich woodlands, trail margins & roadsides, per Weakley's Flora
Forb
Perennial
Polygamous
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in
GA
NC
SC
Uncommon
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Stems and leaves unarmed
LEAVES:
Pinnately compound, or complexly compound with pinnate and ternate compoundness
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
Bisexual & unisexual
Radially symmetrical
5 sepals
5 petals
Inferior ovary
Inflorescences large axillary panicles comprised of many small umbels
FRUIT:
Summer
Dark purple
Drupe
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
Aralia racemosa FAMILY Araliaceae
Spikenard
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Spikenard at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Click the thumbnails to see larger pictures.
JK Marlow jkm0407h_09
July Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Leaflets large and heart-shaped at the base, per Newcomb's Wildflower Guide.
JK Marlow jkm100730_234
July Jackson County NC
Balsam Mountain Preserve
Greenish-white flowers in a long branching cluster of umbels, per Newcomb's Wildflower Guide.
JK Marlow jkm100730_234b
July Jackson County NC
Balsam Mountain Preserve
Sepals ca. 0.3mm long; petals white ca. 1mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
JK Marlow jkm0508f_28
August Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
Leaves pinnately compound or ternately and pinnately decompound, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
JK Marlow jkm190913_1419
September Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Fruits are dark purple drupes, about 0.2" across, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.