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Allegheny-spurge

Pachysandra procumbens




Allegheny spurge
 Pachysandra procumbens habitat
 Pachysandra procumbens


State Heritage Status Rankings

Alabama (S2), Florida (S1), Georgia (S1), Indiana (S1),
Kentucky (S4), Louisiana (S2), Mississippi (S3),
North Carolina (S1),
Pennsylvania (Not Ranked), South Carolina (S1), Tennessee (S4)



 

Description:

Allegheny-spurge is a shrub/vine with stolons that may reach 2 feet in height, but typically shorter. The lower stems have scales with regular leaves concentrated near the terminus of the plant. The leaves are alternate simple, evergreen, and palmate with major veins. The leaf blades are ovate to widely elliptic and 2 to 5 inches in length by 1 to 2 inches in width. The leaf apex is acute and the base is rounded to widely cunate with coarsely serrate margins. Dark green mottling with lighter green characterizes the upper leaf surface. The leaves often take on a purple coloration, especially in the winter and early spring (Allen et. al., 2002). The flowers appear in dense spikes on each side of the stem base (Hemmerly 2000). The fruit is a 3-locular capsule with 2 seeds per locule (Allen et. al. 2002).

Habitat:

Allegheny-spurge inhabits moist, rich, calcareous woods (Hemmerly, 2000).

Range:

Allegheny-spurge is found in the upper Piedmont of the Carolinas and Virginia (Weakley 2003) along the western edge of the Appalachians from Kentucky southward, through the Carolinas and Georgia (Hemmerly 2000) west to West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana (NatureServe, 2003 and Allen et. al. 2002). In Louisiana. Allegheny-spurge has only been found in West Feliciana Parish (Allen et. al. 2002). The species is locally abundant in Tunica Hills Wildlife Management Area.





References

  • Allen, C. M., Newman, D. A., and H. H. Winters. 2002. Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines of Louisiana. Allen's Native Ventures, LLC, Pitkin, Louisiana. p. 170.

    Hemmerly, T. E. 2000. Appalachian Wildflowers: An Ecological Guide to the Flowering Plants from Quebec to Georgia. The University of Georgia Press. Athens, Georgia. p. 84.

    NatureServe. 2003. Internet Resource. NatureServe.

    Radford, A. E., Ahles, H. E., and C. R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

    USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5. Internet Resource USDA Plants Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

    Weakley, A.S. 2003. Flora of the Carolinas and Virginia, Working Draft. Internet Resource. Flora of the Carolinas and Virginia.