Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Rosales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Gillenia trifoliata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Bowman's Root at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Gillenia trifoliata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 9 (2014)
Gillenia trifoliata
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Porteranthus trifoliatus
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 097-13-001:
Gillenia trifoliata FAMILY Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Porteranthus trifoliatus
COMMON NAME:
Bowman's Root, Mountain Indian Physic, Fawn's Breath
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_potr11_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm100514_172
May Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
The hypanthium (formed from fusion of sepals, petals & stamens) is turbinate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm210523_0711
May Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
Five linear, slightly twisted, unequal petals, per Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition.
)
JK Marlow jkm210523_0712
May Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
A reddish, tubular, 5-lobed calyx that persists after flowers drop, per Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019).
)
JK Marlow jkm210523_0713
May Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm230523_3343
May Greenville County SC
Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve
)
Keith Bradley kab_g_trifoliata_0049
June Burke County NC
Pisgah National Forest
)
JK Marlow s080621_a
June Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow s090613_a
June Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
Three narrow leaflets, 2-4" long, that taper at both ends, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
COMPARE
leaves of Bowman's Root and Indian Physic
)
JK Marlow jkm080726_094
July Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm190704_9768
July Jackson County NC
Foothills Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm230713_4393
July Greenville County SC
Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm080802_055
August Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Capsules 4.5-5mm long, pubescent to glabrate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm0410p_04
October Oconee County SC
Roadside
The reddish hypanthium may cause flowers to appear pinkish at a distance, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm201015_7696
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Gillenia trifoliata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Gillenia trifoliata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 9
Gillenia trifoliata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Porteranthus trifoliatus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 097-13-001:
Gillenia trifoliata
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Porteranthus trifoliatus
612
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Moist forests, roadbanks, forest edges, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in Piedmont of GA & SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Palmately compound: 3 leaflets
Alternate
Leaves subsessile
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
Radially symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
5 petals
20 stamens (enclosed in the throat of the hypanthium)
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) p142
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p162
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p068
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p152
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p170
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p232
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p092
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p025
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p114
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p313
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p118
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p151
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p072
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".