Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Oxydendrum arboreum
FAMILY
Ericaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read more about Sourwood at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Oxydendrum arboreum
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Oxydendrum arboreum
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-13-001:
Oxydendrum arboreum FAMILY Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Oxydendrum arboreum
COMMON NAME:
Sourwood, Sorrel-tree
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm191222_2370_o_arboreum
Clay County AL
Cheaha State Park
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_829
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_oxar_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm090125_012b
January Greenville County SC
Paris Mountain State Park
)
JK Marlow jkm140417_033
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Bark lustrous gray to brown, deeply furrowed, often with a tinge of red, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm200505_4664
May Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow s040514_a
May Polk County NC
Roadside
The finely serrate, elliptic leaves are distinctive, with a sour taste, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
)
JK Marlow jkm0406k_24
June Pickens County SC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm0406l_04
June Greenville County SC
)
Ron Lance rwl_oxy_arboreum
June Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmoarboreum_brp2
June-July? NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Prized Sourwood honey is derived from these small urn-shaped flowers, per Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition.
)
JK Marlow jkm0407b_25
July Rutherford County NC
Chimney Rock Park
)
JK Marlow jkm0407za_09
July Pickens County SC
Roadside
Narrowly ovoid fruits stand erect on curved pedicels, per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).
)
JK Marlow jkm210710_2067
July Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
Stephanie C. Brundage scb_070222Hayesville24ed
July Clay County NC
)
JK Marlow jkm0408a_29
August Greenville County SC
Jones Gap State Park
)
JK Marlow jkm180812_3720
August Greenville County SC
Young twigs eventually with relatively conspicuous, vertically lenticular lenticels, per Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of Northern Florida and Adjacent Georgia and Alabama (Godfrey, 1988).
)
JK Marlow jkm180824_4120
August Greenville County SC
Margins entire or finely and irregularly doubly serrate, per Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of Northern Florida and Adjacent Georgia and Alabama (Godfrey, 1988).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_oxydendrum_arboreum_2
August
)
JK Marlow jkm200926_7412
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_oxydendrum_arboreum_4
September
)
JK Marlow jkm061021_016
October Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm221004_0217
October Greenville County SC
Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm0311e_16
November Greenville County SC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm231122_6928
November Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow s021110_c
November Greenville County SC
The elliptic, finely serrate leaves often start to turn red in late August, per Fall Color & Woodland Harvests (Bell & Lindsey, 1990).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Oxydendrum arboreum
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Oxydendrum arboreum
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Oxydendrum arboreum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-13-001:
Oxydendrum arboreum
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Oxydendrum arboreum
1008
Tree
Perennial
Habitat: Mesic to xeric deciduous forests, especially dry-mesic to xeric oak-hickory and oak-pine forests, and also often in sandhill/pocosin ecotones, 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.)
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer
White
5-lobed calyx
5-lobed urceolate corolla
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p069
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p302
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p104
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p209
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p244
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p364
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p164
- Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p131
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p112
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p136
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p310
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p183
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p35
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p247
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p226
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".