Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Shortia galacifolia
FAMILY
Diapensiaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more: Shortia galacifolia (Oconee Bells), Devils Fork State Park, Oconee County, South Carolina by Jim Fowler.
Read more about Shortia at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
This species occurs in Transylvania & Jackson counties, NC, Oconee & Pickens counties, SC, and Rabun County, GA, where it occurs in the remarkable escarpment gorges region. Most of the population of this species, including the type locality, was destroyed in the early 1960's by the construction of Lake Jocassee. Read more in Weakley's Flora (2023).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Shortia galacifolia var. galacifolia
FAMILY
Diapensiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Shortia galacifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH Shortia brevistyla ... (Diapensiaceae), a narrow endemic from the headwaters of the Catawba River in NC (Gaddy et al., 2019)
Shortia galacifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 8 (2009)
Shortia galacifolia var. galacifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Shortia galacifolia var. galacifolia
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 146-01-001:
Shortia galacifolia FAMILY Diapensiaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Sherwoodia galacifolia
COMMON NAME:
Oconee Bells, Southern Shortia
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Steve Marlow snm079901_05
January Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
Ben Geer Keys bgk1375_c
March
Flowers solitary on scapes up to 6" long, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Jim Fowler jaf_shortiagalacifolia02
March Pickens County SC
Devils Fork State Park
The rare, pink form.
)
JK Marlow jkm0403e_03
March Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
Glossy leaves resembling Galax - as the specific name implies, per Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition.
COMPARE
leaves of Galax and Oconee Bells
)
JK Marlow jkm240312_7679
March Greenville County SC
)
Keith Bradley kab_s_galacifolia_1036
March Oconee County SC
Devils Fork State Park
Flowers resemble a nodding bell, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
)
Keith Bradley kab_s_galacifolia_1083
March Oconee County SC
Devils Fork State Park
Style (10-) 12-18mm long, about 2× as long as the stamens, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
)
Keith Bradley kab_s_galacifolia_1110
March Oconee County SC
Devils Fork State Park
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_s_galacifolia_oconee
March
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_shortia_galacifolia_2
March
)
Bill Sharpton gws_oconeebells_l
March? Oconee County SC
Devils Fork State Park
Scapes with 3-5 bracts, these often closely subtending the calyx, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Jim Fanning jcf_shortia1
April Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm100402_024
April Oconee County SC
Jocassee Gorges
)
JK Marlow jkm100402_059b
April Oconee County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Petal margins obtusely toothed, laciniate [narrow irregular cuts] or fringed, per Flora of North America.
)
Ron Lance rwl_shortia
April
In cultivation
)
Steve Marlow snm100402_r111_41
April Oconee County SC
Jocassee Gorges
)
JK Marlow jkm0305za_03
May Buncombe County NC
Botanical Gardens at Asheville
)
JK Marlow jkm080507_037
May Greenville County SC
In cultivation
Style 12-18mm long. Fruit a capsule, per Flora of North America.
)
JK Marlow s071108_b
November Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
Leaves with pinnate veins (vs. the palmate veins of Galax), per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow s071108_b2
November Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
Leaves orbicular to elliptic-orbicular, coarsely crenate-serrate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Shortia galacifolia
FAMILY
Diapensiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Shortia galacifolia var. galacifolia
FAMILY
Diapensiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Shortia galacifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Shortia brevistyla ... (Diapensiaceae), a narrow endemic from the headwaters of the Catawba River in NC (Gaddy et al., 2019)
Shortia galacifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 8
Shortia galacifolia var. galacifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Shortia galacifolia var. galacifolia
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 146-01-001:
Shortia galacifolia
FAMILY
Diapensiaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Sherwoodia galacifolia
1375
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: On moist slopes, creekbanks, and rock outcrops in humid escarpment gorges with high rainfall, generally in deep shade under Rhododendron maximum and R. minus, at elevations (in NC) of 350-650m, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Rare in Mountains (waifs elsewhere in GA-NC-SC, where escaped from cultivation)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Basal
FLOWER:
Spring
White/Pinkish
Radially symmetrical
5 sepals barely united at base
5-lobed campanulate corolla
5 stamens & 5 very short staminodia
FRUIT:
Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p156
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p157
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p355
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p140
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p190
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p438
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p120
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