Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/8/20):
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 Flora of North America
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__
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
)
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 (2/8/20):
Erechtites hieraciifolius
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
(?) SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Erechtites hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
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__
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
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:
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