North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Endodeca serpentaria

Endodeca serpentaria (L.) Raf.

virginia snakeroot, serpent birthwort, turpentine-root

Endodeca serpentaria (Virginia Snakeroot)

Image ID: 20910
Image by: Cressler, Alan M.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: ENSE4
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Endodeca serpentaria
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-08-28

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE:
GENUS SCIENTIFIC:
GENUS AUTHORITY:
GENUS COMMON:
GENUS SUMMARY:
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES:

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: ARISTO
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Aristolochiaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A. L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Birthwort Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 6-12 genera and 600 species, vines, shrubs, and herbs, of tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Barringer & Whittemore in FNA (1997); Ohi-Toma et al. (2006); Neinhuis et al. (2005); Huber in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Rhizomatous perennial of dry to mesic forests; may be more restricted to mesic situations over acidic substrate but ranges into drier situations over calcareous/mafic substrates.
STEMS: Stems smooth to hairy, sometimes trailing.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, petiolate, narrowly lance-shaped to somewhat oval and the base lobed, suggestive of an arrowhead shape, 2â€“6 in. long.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers solitary on a weak-stemmed lower branch; greenish-purplish to maroon; Â½-Â¾ in. long; bilaterally symmetric and tubular, with a sharp curve and a constriction below the flaring mouth; hairy.
FRUITS:
COMMENTS: Variations in leaf shape and texture have led to naming of other species, though these may represent morphologic extremes of a polymorphic complex; roots have a strong turpentine odor when bruised.
HEIGHT: 4-24 in.

DURATION:
HABIT:

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Bilateral (Zygomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: May-Jun

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

BLOOM COLOR: Greenish-purple

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

FRUITING PERIOD: Jun-Jul.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Dry forests, Moist forests
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
29	HORT	2009-06-09	Heiney	View
30	HORT	2009-07-17	Schubert	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
84	2009-0013	2009-06-09	29	View
85	2009-0014	2009-02-12	30	View
2868	1987-0386			View
3967	1992-0123			View
4902	1995-0020			View
5058	1995-0177			View
5448	1995-0571			View
5918	1995-1046			View
8842	2007-0152	2007-06-19		View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
365	85	23	Liloia	2009-10-01	View
368	84	119	Heiney	2009-06-09	View
4768	2868	8	NCBG staff	1982-06-15	View
6295	3967	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
7321	4902	202	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
7477	5058	203	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
7962	5448	204	NCBG staff	1993-01-01	View
8470	5918	2	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
12081	8842	11	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
12082	8842	72	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
12083	8842	73	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
12084	8842	187	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
13109	85	21	Liloia	0000-00-00	View
13223	0	145	Liloia	0000-00-00	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: ENSE4
USDA Common Name:
Native Status:
Distribution:
Duration:
Growth Habit:

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FACU				UPL	FACU		UPL	UPL

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Endodeca serpentaria
COMMON NAME: Turpentine-root, Virginia Snakeroot, Serpent Birthwort
SYNONYMY: [= Tn, Va; = Aristolochia serpentaria Linnaeus - C, Fl, FNA, G, K, Pa, RAB, W, WH3; > A. serpentaria var. hastata (Nuttall) Duchartre - F; > A. serpentaria var. serpentaria - F; > E. hastata (Nuttall) Rafinesque - Il; > E. serpentaria - Il; > A. hastata Nuttall - S; > A. convolvulacea Small - S; > A. serpentaria - S; > Endodeca serpentaria var. hastata (Rafinesque) C.F. Reed]
PHENOLOGY: May-Jun; Jun-Jul.
HABITAT: Dry to mesic forests, perhaps more restricted to mesic situations over acidic substrate, ranging into drier situations over calcareous or mafic substrates.
COMMENTS: CT and NY west to IL, MI, and MO, south to c. peninsular FL and TX. The tremendous variation in this species needs further study. Plants with sparingly pubescent, thin-textured, linear to lanceolate leaves have been called Aristolochia hastata. Plants with broadly ovate, densely pubescent leaves have been called Aristolochia convolvulacea. These may represent merely morphologic extremes of a polymorphic complex; alternatively, some taxonomic recognition of such plants as distinct from A. serpentaria may be warranted.
RANGE MAP: Endodeca serpentaria.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Aristolochiaceae A. L. de Jussieu 1789 (Birthwort Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 6-12 genera and 600 species, vines, shrubs, and herbs, of tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions.
REFERENCE: Barringer & Whittemore in FNA (1997); Ohi-Toma et al. (2006); Neinhuis et al. (2005); Huber in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
()
SUMMARY:
REFERENCE:

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

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

WEB RESOURCES

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

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 20910 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 20910 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 20910 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)