Lachnanthes

Lachnanthes
Lachnanthes caroliana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Commelinales
Family: Haemodoraceae
Subfamily: Haemodoroideae
Genus: Lachnanthes
Ell.
Species:
L. caroliana
Binomial name
Lachnanthes caroliana
Synonyms[1][2]
  • Anonymos tinctoria Walter
  • Dilatris caroliniana Lam.
  • Dilatris heritiera Pers.
  • Dilatris tinctoria (Walter ex J.F. Gmel.) Pursh
  • Gyrotheca tinctoria (Walter ex J.F. Gmel.) Salisb.
  • Heritiera gmelinii Michx.
  • Heritiera tinctorum Walter ex J.F. Gmel.
  • Lachnanthes tinctoria (Walter ex J.F. Gmel.) Elliott
  • Lachnanthes tinctoria var. major C. Wright ex Griseb.

Lachnanthes is a genus of monocotyledonous plants in the bloodwort family containing only one species, i.e., Lachnanthes caroliana (caroliniana),[3] commonly known as Carolina redroot or bloodroot.[4] The plant is native to eastern North America, from southeastern Nova Scotia (especially the Molega Lake area)[5] and Massachusetts in the north, south to Florida and Cuba, and west along the Gulf of Mexico to Louisiana. It has also been reported from an island in the western Caribbean off the coast of Honduras.[6] It prefers wet, acidic, usually sandy soils, restricting it to various wetland habitats such as bogs, pinelands, hammocks and pocosins, among others.

The plant's common name is based on its red roots and rhizomes. Its flowers, consisting of six pale yellow tepals, emerge from mid to late summer. The plant is sometimes a significant weed in commercial cranberry bogs.[7]

  1. ^ Tropicos
  2. ^ The Plant List
  3. ^ Dandy, James Edgar. Journal of Botany, British and Foreign 70: 329. 1932.
  4. ^ "Encyclopedia of Life".
  5. ^ Ware, Beverley (2007), "Knox on Wood" (PDF), The Novascotian, archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2012, retrieved 10 April 2011
  6. ^ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  7. ^ Robertson, Kenneth R. (2003), "Lachnanthes caroliniana", Flora of North America online, vol. 26, New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 47–48, retrieved 2008-11-17