Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Chelone obliqua
FAMILY
Plantaginaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Purple Turtlehead at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Chelone obliqua var. obliqua
FAMILY
Scrophulariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Chelone obliqua var. obliqua
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 17 (2019)
Chelone obliqua var. obliqua
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 166-13-003:
Chelone obliqua FAMILY Scrophulariaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Chelone obliqua
COMMON NAME:
Purple Turtlehead, Pink Turtlehead
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm140412_947
April Transylvania County NC
)
JK Marlow jkm0308w_23
August Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Flowers in a dense cluster, per Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999).
)
JK Marlow jkm090913_117
September Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Leaves lance-shaped; leaf stalks 0.25-.5" long, per Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977).
)
JK Marlow jkm090913_119
September Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Lvs widest mostly at or near middle, serrate, w acute base. Petioles 5-15mm, per Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999).
)
JK Marlow jkm0310g_01
October Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Capsule broadly ovoid, about 1cm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Chelone obliqua
FAMILY
Plantaginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Chelone obliqua var. obliqua
FAMILY
Scrophulariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Chelone obliqua var. obliqua
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 17
Chelone obliqua var. obliqua
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 166-13-003:
Chelone obliqua
FAMILY
Scrophulariaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Chelone obliqua
314
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Streambanks, swamp forests, ecotones of freshwater tidal marshes, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Rare
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Purplish
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
2-lipped corolla
4 fertile included stamens (2 long, 2 short) & 1 sterile with white filament
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p115
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p094
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p093
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p328
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p087
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p239
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p283
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p155
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".