OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Santalales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Pyrularia pubera   FAMILY Santalaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pyrularia pubera   FAMILY Santalaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Pyrularia pubera

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)

Pyrularia pubera

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 060-04-001:

Pyrularia pubera   FAMILY Santalaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Pyrularia pubera

 

COMMON NAME:
Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Pyrularia pubera, Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_pypu_001_lvd

        

image of Pyrularia pubera, Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut

JK Marlow    jkm140417_029

April    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

image of Pyrularia pubera, Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut

JK Marlow    jkm150424_692693

April    Blount County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Calyx 5-lobed; petals absent; style short & thick, per Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989).

image of Pyrularia pubera, Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut

JK Marlow    jkm180427_1588

April    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

image of Pyrularia pubera, Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut

JK Marlow    jkm0405j_18

May    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

image of Pyrularia pubera, Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut

JK Marlow    jkm060508_141

May    Macon County    NC

Nantahala National Forest: Wayah Ranger District

Inflorescence an erect terminal spike with greenish apetalous flowers, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).

image of Pyrularia pubera, Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut

JK Marlow    jkm140517_808

May    Transylvania County    NC

Leaves thin, the veins on the lower surface raised, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).

image of Pyrularia pubera, Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut

Keith Bradley    kab_p_pubera_73417

May        NC

image of Pyrularia pubera, Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut

JK Marlow    s040503_e

May    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Leaves alternate, elliptic, apple green, thin, per Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989).

image of Pyrularia pubera, Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut

JK Marlow    jkm080629_050

June    Greenville County    SC

Chandler Heritage Preserve

The source of the primary common name requires little imagination, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).

image of Pyrularia pubera, Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut

JK Marlow    jkm080629_053

June    Greenville County    SC

Chandler Heritage Preserve

image of Pyrularia pubera, Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut

JK Marlow    jkm0310b_12

October    Greenville County    SC

Ashmore Heritage Preserve

Fruit a pear-shaped fleshy drupe with a very acrid poisonous oil, per Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989).

image of Pyrularia pubera, Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut

JK Marlow    jkm151024_564

October    Greenville County    SC

Blue Wall Preserve

Twigs grayish to lt brown; buds 5-12mm w several greenish imbricate scales, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Pyrularia pubera, Buffalo-nut, Oil-nut

JK Marlow    jkm201107_8050

November    Greenville County    SC

Caesars Head State Park

Fall color all around, but this Buffalo-nut is still fiercely green.

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Pyrularia pubera   FAMILY Santalaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pyrularia pubera   FAMILY Santalaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Pyrularia pubera

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)
Pyrularia pubera

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 060-04-001:
Pyrularia pubera   FAMILY Santalaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Pyrularia pubera

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1177

Shrub
Perennial
Dioecious

Habitat: Mesic to dry forests, over a wide range of substrates, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common in Mountains & NC Piedmont, uncommon to rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate

FLOWER:
Spring
5-lobed calyx
Petals absent
5 stamens
Inferior ovary
Unisexual

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Drupe

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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