North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Triantha racemosa

Triantha racemosa (Walter) Small

southern bog asphodel, coastal false asphodel, coastal plain bog asphodel

Triantha racemosa (Southern Bog Asphodel)

Image ID: 19419
Image by: Stuart, Will
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: TRRA6
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Triantha racemosa
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-02-06

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: TRIAN2
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Triantha
GENUS AUTHORITY: (Nutt.) Baker
GENUS COMMON: False asphodel
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of ca. 4 species, herbs, of North America and Japan.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Packer in FNA (2002a); Zomlefer (1997c)=Z; Hitchcock (1944)=Y; Cruden (1991).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: TOFIEL
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Tofieldiaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Takhtajan 1994
FAMILY COMMON: False-asphodel Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of 4 genera and about 30 species, of disjunct distribution in north temperate and subarctic areas, and in the Guayana Shield and northern Andes areas of n. South America. There is controversy about the circumscription of the genera; Azuma & Tobe (2011) have clarified the phylogeny and generic subscriptions in the family. Some have believed that Tofieldia, Triantha, and Pleea should be treated together in a broadly circumscribed Tofieldia (Utech 1978, Zomlefer 1997c); others that all three should be treated separately (Ambrose 1980; Packer 1993; Cruden 1991). Packer in FNA (2002a) has recently recognized Triantha, Pleea, and Tofieldia as separate genera, a conclusion followed here in part because of the ancient, relictual nature of these units, and additionally supported by the molecular analysis of Azuma & Tobe (2011). Reveal & Zomlefer (1998) place the Tofieldiaceae in the monotypic order Tofieldiales, only distantly related to the Liliaceae. Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a) treats this group as subfamily Tofieldioideae of the Nartheciaceae; this treatment is not tenable following more recent research.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Azuma & Tobe (2011); Zomlefer (1997c, 1999); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect, rhizomatous perennial of savannas, savanna-pocosin ecotones, seepage bogs and sinkhole ponds (dolines) in the mountains of VA.
STEMS: Stems scape-like, unbranched and densely covered with granular, rough glands.
LEAVES: Leaves mostly basal, erect, grass-like, to 14 in long and 1/4 in. wide; the few stem leaves are smaller and bract-like.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers on glandular-hairy stalks in a terminal cylindrical cluster, with 3-7 flowers per node (1 per node at top); white (drying orange); about 1/3 in. wide; consisting of 6 spreading, blunt-tipped, oblong-lance to spoon-shaped tepals (the inner series of 3 narrower and longer) and 6 stamens (about as long as tepals) surrounding a greenish-white, 3-celled ovary.
FRUITS: Fruit a 3-celled, oval capsule.
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 8-24 in.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Basal
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Jun-early Aug

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

BLOOM COLOR: White

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

FRUITING PERIOD: Late Sep-Oct.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bogs/pocosins, Pine savannas
NATIVE RANGE: southeastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Average, Moist/Wet
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
72	HORT	2010-12-21	Poythress	View
395	HORT	2009-12-08	Poythress	View
1153	HORT	2006-10-08	Liloia	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
69	2013-0018	2013-07-01	72	View
391	2011-0282	2011-12-21	395	View
1859	1986-1640			View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
89	69	64	Liloia	2013-06-18	View
936	391	44	NCBG staff	2011-10-18	View
937	391	48	Mixon	2013-06-01	View
2951	1859	64	NCBG staff	1984-03-11	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: TRRA6
USDA Common Name: Coastal False Asphodel
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, DE, FL, GA, LA, MD, MS, NC, NJ, SC, TN, TX, VA)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

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

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: Triantha racemosa
COMMON NAME: Southern Bog Asphodel, Coastal Plain Bog Asphodel
SYNONYMY: [= FNA, K, S, Va; = Tofieldia racemosa var. racemosa - RAB; = Tofieldia racemosa (Walter) Britton, Sterns, & Poggenburg - C, F, G, GW, W, WH3, Z]
PHENOLOGY: Jun-early Aug; late Sep-Oct.
HABITAT: Savannas, savanna-pocosin ecotones, seepage bogs, sinkhole ponds (dolines) in the mountains of VA.
COMMENTS: NJ south to nw. FL, west to e. TX; disjunct in c. TN. The NJ populations are anomalous (as discussed by Packer in FNA 2002a) and are under taxonomic investigation by Sasha Eisenman.
RANGE MAP: Triantha racemosa.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Tofieldiaceae Takhtajan 1994 (False-asphodel Family)
SUMMARY: A family of 4 genera and about 30 species, of disjunct distribution in north temperate and subarctic areas, and in the Guayana Shield and northern Andes areas of n. South America. There is controversy about the circumscription of the genera; Azuma & Tobe (2011) have clarified the phylogeny and generic subscriptions in the family. Some have believed that Tofieldia, Triantha, and Pleea should be treated together in a broadly circumscribed Tofieldia (Utech 1978, Zomlefer 1997c); others that all three should be treated separately (Ambrose 1980; Packer 1993; Cruden 1991). Packer in FNA (2002a) has recently recognized Triantha, Pleea, and Tofieldia as separate genera, a conclusion followed here in part because of the ancient, relictual nature of these units, and additionally supported by the molecular analysis of Azuma & Tobe (2011). Reveal & Zomlefer (1998) place the Tofieldiaceae in the monotypic order Tofieldiales, only distantly related to the Liliaceae. Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a) treats this group as subfamily Tofieldioideae of the Nartheciaceae; this treatment is not tenable following more recent research.
REFERENCE: Azuma & Tobe (2011); Zomlefer (1997c, 1999); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Triantha (Nutt.) Baker (False asphodel)
SUMMARY: A genus of ca. 4 species, herbs, of North America and Japan.
REFERENCE: Packer in FNA (2002a); Zomlefer (1997c)=Z; Hitchcock (1944)=Y; Cruden (1991).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

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

WEB RESOURCES

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

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 19419 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 19417 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 19419 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)