Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Epifagus virginiana
FAMILY
Orobanchaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read about Beechdrops from Lytton Musselman and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Read more about Beechdrops at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Epifagus virginiana
FAMILY
Orobanchaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Epifagus virginiana
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 17 (2019)
Epifagus virginiana
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 169-01-001:
Epifagus virginiana FAMILY Orobanchaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Leptamnium virginianum
COMMON NAME:
Beechdrops
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_levi14_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm090313_008
March Pickens County SC
Clemson Forest
True to its name, Beechdrops parasitizes the roots of beech trees, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm070506_111
May Gaston County NC
Redlair Farms
To the uninitiated this might look like the dead tip of a fallen branch, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
Joe Pollard ajp_epifagus_joycekilmer
September Graham County NC
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest
)
Sam Pratt sbp_3484
September Polk County NC
Pearson's Falls
Upper flowers 3/8", 2-lipped w 4 short lobes, usually yellowish or purplish, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdme_virginiana
Month Unknown
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Epifagus virginiana
FAMILY
Orobanchaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Epifagus virginiana
FAMILY
Orobanchaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Epifagus virginiana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 17
Epifagus virginiana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 169-01-001:
Epifagus virginiana
FAMILY
Orobanchaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Leptamnium virginianum
512
Forb
Annual
Habitat: Moist to rather dry forests under and parasitic on Fagus grandifolia, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in Carolina Coastal Plain) (rare in GA Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Purplish-brown
5-lobed cupulate calyx
2-lipped 4-lobed tubular corolla
Superior ovary
Flowers in spikelike inflorescences
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Brown
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p236
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p195
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p239
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p018
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p474
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p141
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p231
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p273
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p250
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p293
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p367
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p161
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