North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Verbesina alternifolia

Verbesina alternifolia (L.) Britton ex Kearney

common wingstem

Synonym(s): Actinomeris alternifolia, Ridan alternifolia

Image ID: 9741
Image by: Ware, Richard & Teresa
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: VEAL
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Verbesina alternifolia
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-01-11

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: VERBE2
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Verbesina
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Crownbeard
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 200-300 species, trees, shrubs, and herbs, of tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate America.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Strother in FNA (2006c); Olsen (1979)=Z; Coleman (1966)=Y; Cronquist (1980)=SE.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: ASTERA
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Asteraceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Dumortier 1822 or COMPOSITAE Giseke 1792
FAMILY COMMON: Aster Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 1500-1700 genera and 20,000-25,000 species, shrubs, herbs, trees, and vines, cosmopolitan in distribution.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Cronquist (1980)=SE throughout family treatment.

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect perennial found in alluvial forests, marshes and floodplain pastures.
STEMS: Stems branched in inflorescence, usually winged, smooth or hairy.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, short petiolate to sessile, lance-shaped, to 10 in. long, mostly entire, rough-hairy.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Composite flowers (heads) in large, open, branching terminal cluster; heads to 2 1/2 in. wide, consisting of 2-10 drooping, yellow ray florets (1/3-1 in. long each) encircling a domed center disk of greenish-yellow, tubular florets.
FRUITS: Fruit a spherical head of sometimes winged achenes.
COMMENTS: Note the similarity to Verbesina occidentalis, which has opposite, more broadly oval leaves and typically fewer ray florets.
HEIGHT: 3-9 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Mixed
BLOOM TIME: Aug-Oct

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

BLOOM COLOR: Yellow

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

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bottomlands
NATIVE RANGE:

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

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

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
4403	1992-0559			View
5518	1995-0641			View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
6731	4403	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
8032	5518	204	NCBG staff	1993-01-01	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: VEAL
USDA Common Name: Wingstem
Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WI, WV), CAN (ON)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

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

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: Verbesina alternifolia
COMMON NAME: Common Wingstem
SYNONYMY: [= C, FNA, G, GW, K, Pa, RAB, SE, Va, WH3, WV; = Actinomeris alternifolia (Linnaeus) Bentham - Il; = Ridan alternifolia (Linnaeus) Britton - S]
PHENOLOGY: Aug-Sep.
HABITAT: Alluvial forests, marshes, floodplain pastures.
COMMENTS: NY and s. ON west to IA, south to Panhandle FL and LA.
RANGE MAP: Verbesina alternifolia.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Asteraceae Dumortier 1822 or COMPOSITAE Giseke 1792 (Aster Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 1500-1700 genera and 20,000-25,000 species, shrubs, herbs, trees, and vines, cosmopolitan in distribution.
REFERENCE: Cronquist (1980)=SE throughout family treatment.

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Verbesina L. (Crownbeard)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 200-300 species, trees, shrubs, and herbs, of tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate America.
REFERENCE: Strother in FNA (2006c); Olsen (1979)=Z; Coleman (1966)=Y; Cronquist (1980)=SE.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

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

WEB RESOURCES

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

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 9741 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 9741 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 19137 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 9741 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)