Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Saxifragales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Heuchera americana
FAMILY
Saxifragaceae
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about American Alumroot from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Heuchera americana var. americana
FAMILY
Saxifragaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 094-11-003:
Heuchera americana
FAMILY
Saxifragaceae
COMMON NAME:
American Alumroot
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_hecu4_001_lvd
)
Jim Fanning jcf_alumroot2
April Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
The inflorescence is a pedunculate panicle, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
)
JK Marlow jkm080421_079
April Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm160422_078
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow s050410_c
April Greenville County SC
SC Native Plant Society Plant Sale
Leaves are shallowly & obscurely 5-lobed with mostly blunt teeth, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
COMPARE
Alumroot, Foamflower, and Miterwort
)
JK Marlow jkm0305m_15
May Rutherford County NC
Chimney Rock Park
)
JK Marlow jkm0405c_06
May Rutherford County NC
Chimney Rock Park
Heuchera usually has leaves as wide as long and with prominent variegation, per Weakley's Flora (2020).
)
JK Marlow jkm0405x_09
May Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
Capsules 3-5.5mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
)
JK Marlow jkm0405x_11
May Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
The most widespread species of Heuchera in e. North America, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
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Keith Bradley kab_h_americana_0978
May NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
Keith Bradley kab_h_americana_73702
May Polk County NC
Norman Wilder Forest
)
Gill Newberry gn00_h_americana_flowers
Month Unknown
)
Gill Newberry gn00_h_americana_inf
Month Unknown
Calyx glandular-puberulent, greenish; stamens and style exserted, per Weakley's Flora.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Heuchera americana
FAMILY
Saxifragaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Heuchera americana var. americana
FAMILY
Saxifragaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 094-11-003:
Heuchera americana
FAMILY
Saxifragaceae
669
Forb
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common (uncommon to rare in Coastal Plain)
Look for it in rocky forests, rock outcrops, particularly where soils are subacidic to circumneutral, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
...Moist
...Variable
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Sepals greenish-tipped; petals greenish, white, pink, or purplish
Bisexual
Radially symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
5 petals (usually)
5 stamens
Ovary half-inferior
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers p173
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South p132
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p191
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide p180
- Southern Appalachian Wildflowers p196
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p458
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry p132
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p109
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p139
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p066