North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Amsonia ciliata

Amsonia ciliata Walter

sandhills bluestar, fringed bluestar

Image ID: 8647
Image by: Cotterman, Laura
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: AMCI
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Amsonia ciliata
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-09-16

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: AMSON
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Amsonia
GENUS AUTHORITY: Walter
GENUS COMMON: Bluestar
GENUS SUMMARY: [by Bruce A. Sorrie and Alan. S. Weakley]
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Woodson (1928)=Z.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: APOCYN
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Apocynaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Dogbane Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: As here circumscribed including the Asclepiadaceae, a family of about 480 genera and about 4800 species, lianas, shrubs, herbs, and trees, widespread in tropical and temperate areas. There appears to be overwhelming evidence favoring the combination of the Asclepiadaceae into the Apocynaceae; see, for instance, Rosatti (1989), Sennblad & Bremer (1996), and many others.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Rosatti (1989); Liede (1997a).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Clump-forming, erect to ascending perennial growing in sandhills and other sandy woodlands.
STEMS: Stems branched, very leafy, hairy.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, crowded all the way up the stem, sessile, narrow and almost needle-like, up to 3 in. long, turning yellow-bronze in the fall.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers in a loose cluster at top of stem, pale blue, 1/2 in. wide, consisting of a ½-in.-long thin tube that opens into a 5-lobed star with a white or pale yellow center.
FRUITS: Fruit a pair of erect, green, slender follicles.
COMMENTS: “Ciliata” in the name refers to the fringe of hairs found on new leaves and plant stems.
HEIGHT: 1-2 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: April-May

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
		x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Light blue

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
						x

FRUITING PERIOD: Sep-Oct.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Sandhills
NATIVE RANGE: southeastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Sandhills bluestar is a southeastern native perennial that produces clusters of small, star-shaped blue flowers in late spring held above its narrow, needle-like foliage. The leaves turns bright yellow in the fall. In the wild, it is typically seen growing in the sandhills of North Carolina. It is clump forming and thrives in gardens with well-drained soil and more than four hours of sunlight each day, though it appreciates afternoon shade in hotter areas.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 5
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE: 2
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
94	2012-0066	2012-06-06	95	View
2153	1986-1960			View
8965	1992-0064	0000-00-00	1643	View

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
95	HORT	2010-08-06	Poythress	View
1643	HORT	1992-04-30		View
1851	HORT	2006-11-01	Bryan	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
134	94	41	Mixon	2012-05-01	View
135	94	40	Mixon	2012-05-01	View
3706	2153	58	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
3707	2153	57	NCBG staff	1986-12-23	View
6230	8965	54	NCBG staff	1992-04-30	View
6231	8965	52	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
6232	8965	59	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: AMCI
USDA Common Name: Fringed Bluestar
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, FL, GA, MO, NC, OK, SC, TX)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Amsonia ciliata
COMMON NAME: Sandhills Bluestar
SYNONYMY: [= RAB, WH3; > A. ciliata Walter var. ciliata - K, S, Z; > A. ciliata Walter var. tenuifolia (Rafinesque) Woodson - K; > A. ciliata var. filifolia Wood - F, G, S; > A. ciliata var. tenuifolium - Z, misspelling]
PHENOLOGY: Apr; Sep-Oct.
HABITAT: Sandhills.
COMMENTS: Two varieties have been traditionally recognized since the monograph of Woodson (1928), var. ciliata (leaves strongly heteromorphic, the lower leaves lanceolate, 4-10 mm wide (mostly 4-15� as long as wide), the upper about 1 mm wide; inflorescence barely held above the foliage) and var. tenuifolia (leaves slightly or not at all heteromorphic, the lower leaves linear, 1-3 mm wide (mostly 15-30� as long as wide), the upper < 1 mm wide; inflorescence usually held well above the foliage). They do not seem to be clearly separable morphologically, and their distributions are very largely overlapping, suggesting that they are merely forms. Se. NC south to c. peninsular FL, west to c. and s. AL; disjunct in Ozark-Ouachita highlands of sc. MO, w. AR, and se. OK; material from OK and TX sometimes included in A. ciliata is here considered a separate species, A. texana (A. Gray) Heller.
RANGE MAP: Amsonia ciliata.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Apocynaceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Dogbane Family)
SUMMARY: As here circumscribed including the Asclepiadaceae, a family of about 480 genera and about 4800 species, lianas, shrubs, herbs, and trees, widespread in tropical and temperate areas. There appears to be overwhelming evidence favoring the combination of the Asclepiadaceae into the Apocynaceae; see, for instance, Rosatti (1989), Sennblad & Bremer (1996), and many others.
REFERENCE: Rosatti (1989); Liede (1997a).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Amsonia Walter (Bluestar)
SUMMARY: [by Bruce A. Sorrie and Alan. S. Weakley]
REFERENCE: Woodson (1928)=Z.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Amsonia ciliata in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Amsonia ciliata in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Amsonia ciliata in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Amsonia ciliata in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Amsonia ciliata in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Amsonia ciliata

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 8647 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 19276 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 20736 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)