Scientific name: Aureolaria patula (Chapman) Pennell Basionyms: Dasistoma patula Chapman; Gerardia patula (Chapman) Gray; Common name: Spreding Yellow Foxglove

Type locality: Valley of the Coosa River, near Rome, Floyd County, Georgia
Herbarium specimens: Washington, DC, and Auburn, AL

Comments: In Floyd County, Georgia this species was discovered by Alvan Wentworth Chapman (1809-1899), physician and botanist from Apalachicola, Florida in 1871.

Description: Perennial herb, parasite on the roots of oaks ; stem erect, several from rootstock and spreading out, 1 m -1.2 m long, terete, dull green and tinged with red and maroon, minutely pubescent; leaves opposite, the largest leaves lowest, 13 cm - 20 cm long, blades ovate- lanceolate, 4 - 8 pairs of lobes, surface dull yellow-green, smooth, hairy on the midrib, lower surface paler ; inflorescence branched racemes; pedicels externally glabrous, 12 mm - 25 mm long, reddish-tined, arching upward ; flowers axillary; calyx lobes 5, linear-triangular, 4 mm -7 mm long, puberulent, green; corolla butter-yellow, 30 mm - 35 mm long; corolla lobes, entire, rounded, somewhat spreading, the upper two lobes slightly larger 10 mm long, the lower tree more spreading, 7 mm long, surface smooth, internally villous toward the base; 4 stamens, longer pair 2 cm long, the shorter pair 1.5 cm long; filaments villous arching up, anthers ellipsoid 4 mm long, horn 1 mm long; ovary superior, ellipsoidal; fruit capsule 5-6 mm long, ovoid, smooth; seeds 2.5 mm long, brown

Identification help: Aureolaria patula (Chapm.) Pennell is distinguished by its puberulent stem, pedicles, and entire calyx lobes. Its flowering branches are erect and spreading with the double rows of blooms.
Aureolaria virginica (L.) Pennell, Downy Yellow False Foxglove, Syn. Aureolaria dispersa (Small) Pennell, has 8-10 mm long pedicles, 40-50 mm long corollas, and smaller, wider calyx lobes.

Last updated on November 12, 2007.

References :
1. Kral, Robert. A Report on Some Rare, Threatened, or Endangered Forest-Related Vascular Plants of the South. Vol. I and II. Technical Publication R8-TP 2 Atlanta: USDA Forest Service, 1983. (1035-1037)
2. Small, John K. Manual of Southeastern Flora. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1933.
3 Auburn University Herbarium ( http://www.auburn.edu/herbarium/), Department of Biological Sciences Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849
4. USDA, NRCS. 2006. The PLANTS Database, 6 March 2006 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
5. Image by Zvezdana Ukropina-Crawford

Botanical explorations in Floyd County, Georgia