OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Erechtites hieraciifolius   FAMILY Asteraceae__   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Erechtites hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius   FAMILY Asteraceae__

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Erechtites hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)

Erechtites hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)

Erechtites hieraciifolia var. hieraciifolia

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-20-001:

Erechtites hieracifolia   FAMILY Asteraceae__

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Erechtites hieracifolia

 

COMMON NAME:
Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort


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

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

Gill Newberry    gn06_erichtites_plant

June        

Lvs alternately spiraling, sharply serrate to irregularly lobed (variable), per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

JK Marlow    jkm140718_960

July    Spartanburg County    SC

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

JK Marlow    jkm130824_563

August    Spartanburg County    SC

Leaf shape elliptic to lanceolate; leaf tip acute to acuminate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

JK Marlow    jkm130824_567

August    Spartanburg County    SC

Leaf base cuneate to attenuate or upper stem leaves auriculate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

JK Marlow    jkm130824_569

August    Spartanburg County    SC

Stem slightly hairy or not, fleshy, grooved, solid with white pith, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

Gill Newberry    gn09_e_flowers

September        

Small cylindric flower heads in clusters terminating stem and branches, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

Gill Newberry    gn09_erichtites_inf

September        

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

JK Marlow    jkm060903_098

September    Greenville County    SC

Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area

Heads cylindrical but swollen at the base, bracts equal & in a single series, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

JK Marlow    jkm090913_003

September    Pickens County    SC

Numerous fine, soft, bright white hairs, persistent on wind-dispersed seeds, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

JK Marlow    jkm090913_003b

September    Pickens County    SC

Nutlets tapered, brown, ribbed, topped by soft and bright-white bristles, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

JK Marlow    jkm120908_327333

September    Greenville County    SC

The whitish corollas are barely visible above the involucres, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE Dame's Rocket and Fireweed

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

JK Marlow    jkm120908_341

September    Greenville County    SC

Leaves irregularly serrate to dentate, unlobed or lobed, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

JK Marlow    jkm210903_3311

September    Greenville County    SC

Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

JK Marlow    jkm231010_5906

October    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

JK Marlow    jkm231019_6115

October    Greenville County    SC

image of Erechtites hieraciifolius, Fireweed, American Burnweed, Pilewort

Patrick D. McMillan    pdmehieracifolia_3

October        

Appearing seemingly from nowhere, at small soil disturbances in forests, per Weakley's Flora.

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Erechtites hieraciifolius   FAMILY Asteraceae__

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Erechtites hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius   FAMILY Asteraceae__

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Erechtites hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Erechtites hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Erechtites hieraciifolia var. hieraciifolia

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-20-001:
Erechtites hieracifolia   FAMILY Asteraceae__

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Erechtites hieracifolia

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

521

Forb
Annual

Habitat: In disturbed soil in nearly all habitats except the extremely xeric, present in most parts of the modern (beat-up) landscape at least as seedlings, liable to turn up at the smallest disturbance (such as small tree-fall tip-up mounds or campfires, even in large natural areas), most abundant in areas extensively disturbed or scarified by timber-harvest, bulldozing, or severe fire, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common

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

DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Does not have milky sap

LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate

FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Disc: Whitish
Rays: Absent
Inferior ovary

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Brown
Achene

 

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



 


Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME: