The Lady Slipper newsletter of the Kentucky Native Plant Society has been published since the Society’s founding in 1986. We occasionally feature an article from a past issue. This one, about the parasitic plants known as “mistletoes”, which first appeared in the winter of 2004, Vol. 19, No. 4, seemed appropriate for the season. If you would like to see other past issues, visit the Lady Slipper Archives, where all issues from Vol. 1, No. 1, February 1986 to Vol. 34, No. 1, Winter/Spring 2019 (after which we moved to this blog format) can be found.
The Mistletoes
by David Taylor, US Forest Service
“Mistletoe on Locust, Stephensport, Kentucky” (Breckinridge Co.)—a glass lantern slide from American Environmental Photographs, 1891–1936, [#AEP-KYS9], Department of Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.
As autumn fades into winter, dark green clumps perched in trees along roads and fencerows, stand out once again. Some trees, especially black cherry, now exhibit gnarled or stub branches, the telltale sign of a current or past infestation, even if the plant is unseen. Birds may be seen plucking white berries from the clumps, and occasionally a person may be seen scouting trees from which to gather some at a later date. The object of attention?— mistletoe.
In Kentucky and neighboring states, we think of the thick-leaved, usually dark green plant we see growing in hardwood trees in towns and along country roads. This is only one of many species of plants known as mistletoe. Before returning to the mistletoe familiar to us, we will take a survey of the mistletoes.
Mistletoe Families
The plants commonly known as mistletoes belong to one of two families, the Loranthaceae and the Viscaceae. Two other less familiar families of ‘mistletoes’ are the Eremolepidaceae and the Misodendraceae. All have in common a hemiparasitic relationship with a host plant, almost always a woody plant. Hemiparasites derive water, minerals, and occasionally food (sugars) from the host plant, but are photosynthetic and produce at least part of their own food. The lesser known families are briefly mentioned first.
Blue mistflower is a late summer to frost flowering species frequently encountered in Kentucky. It is a member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae) and belongs to what is known as the tribe Eupatorieae. This tribe includes some well-known genera including Eupatorium (thoroughworts), Eutrochium (Joe pye-weeds), Ageratina (snakeroots) and Ageratum (the cultivated ageratums).
A name change
Blue mistflower was described and named by Linnaeus in 1753 as Eupatorium coelestinum. Swiss botanist A.P. de Candolle determined it was worthy of its own genus and named the plant Conoclinium coelestinum in 1836. The name was not widely accepted and Eupatorium coelestinum was used well into the 1900s by various botanists. That name can be found in floras and manuals such as Gleason (1952, p. 493), Correll and Correll (1970, pp. 1555–1556), Fernald (1970, p. 1370), and Gandhi and Thomas (1989, p. 78).More recent research, including genetic analysis, supports the separate genus Conoclinium. More recent manuals and floras (e.g., Wunderlin 1982, p. 370; Jones 2005, p. 225; Patterson and Nesom 2006, p. 480; Weakley et al. 2023, p. 1635) use that name.
Four species are found in the eastern, central and southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico. Blue mistflower, is the only species in Kentucky. Another similar species, Pink thoroughwort (Fleischmannia incarnata) is also in Kentucky and the two species are sometimes confused (see below).
The genus name is derived from the Greek words κῶνος (kônos), meaning cone, and κλινίον (kliníon), meaning little bed. The words refer to the shape of the receptacle, the small pad of tissue on which the flowers and fruits are borne in each tiny head of flowers. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin caelistis (also spelled coelestis) meaning celestial or heavenly, in reference to the often-sky-blue color of the flowers.
Culture and botany
Blue mistflower leaf
It typically grows in moist soil, often along ditches, streambanks, moist disturbed areas, moist shady patches in forest, and less commonly, in drier sunnier locations. It will grow on basic (sweet) to somewhat acid soils. When in ideal growing conditions, plants may reach 2.5 feet (76 centimeters) tall and nearly as wide. Patches of plants can create a ground cover. Leaves are strongly wrinkled ovate to deltoid to triangular, up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) long and almost as wide near the base. They are medium green above and lighter below.
Plants are much branched, with each branch ending in a flat-topped to slightly rounded cluster of generally purplish-blue to light blue, but sometimes pinkish blue flower clusters. Within each cluster is 10–25 flower heads (also called capitula).
Blue mistflower heads
Because the plant is in the sunflower family, what may look like a single flower is actually a group (heads, or capitula) of very small flowers. Each head can contain 30–50 individual flowers. All of the flowers are tubular disk flowers. There are no ligulate (strap-shaped) flowers like the ones on a sunflower. The flowers appear fuzzy because the styles/stigmas extend 0.25” or more out of the flower.
This species is cultivated as a garden in many areas. It does especially well in partial shade where soils are moist to average in either gardens or natural settings. Large patches of the plant in flower are striking because of the intense blue to purplish color. Flowers can last for 2–3 weeks depending on temperature and rainfall. The plant will also grow in full sun and in drier soils. It tends to be short in such locations and does not flower for long. It also tends to look somewhat scrappy in these locations.
A number of commercial nurseries sell seed and plants. You may also be able to collect seed from along a road ditch somewhere. It is best to find a source close to where you intend to plant the seed or plants rather than purchasing from many states away. Blue mist flower is a perennial and if growing conditions are suitable, the plant will come back for several year before dying. Allow at least some of the seed to fall to establish replacement plants and increase the size of the patch.
Like many of the species related to Eupatorium, blue mistflower is a copious nectar producer and attracts butterflies of many species. When in more open areas, monarchs will spend a lot of time feeding on this plant, especially if near milkweeds. Small bees such as jewel bees will sometimes visit the flowers as well. Occasionally honeybees and bumble bees will take nectar from the flowers.
A related plant, pink thoroughwort, is sometimes confused with blue mistflower. This species tends to have long stems (up to 6 feet or so), but stems are lax, sprawling on other plants or the ground. Scattered branches are relatively few, short, and often in the same plane as the main stem. Leaves, 2–3.5 inches long, are triangular to deltoid with somewhat tapering tips (see photos below). Flowers look similar to blue mistflower, but are usually pink-purple or whitish with pink or lavender lobes.
Pink thoroughwort leafPink thoroughwort
Pink thoroughwort usually grows where limestone is close the surface and soils are moist, such as along creek banks, thickets, open forest, and bottomland fields. The species has a range similar to, but narrower than blue mistflower: from Missouri east to Ohio and Virginia, south to Florida, then west to Texas and Oklahoma. USDA-NRCS (2023) adds Arizona (but probably an error per Nesom 2006, p. 541). Weakley et al. (2023, p. 1666) adds northeastern Mexico. In Kentucky, the species is mostly in the Bluegrass counties between Lexington and Louisville, and in scattered in the Jackson Purchase counties, with outliers in Bell, Floyd, Pike, Pulaski and Wayne counties. The two species may grow together.
This plant also attracts butterflies, at least when in open bottomland areas. Plants in open forest situations are often close to the ground and larger butterflies do not find the flowers. Small butterflies and some bees will visit them. It does not make for a great garden plant, but does well in natural settings.
Range
The species’ range is New York State south to Florida, then west to Texas, north to Nebraska and Missouri, through Illinois to Michigan. Patterson and Nesom (2026) and USDA-NRCS (2023) add Ontario, Canada, the latter source indicating it is introduced there. BONAP (2014) shows the same states, but adds Iowa. Both BONAP (2014) and Weakley et al. (2023) indicate New York plants are likely escapees from cultivation.
USDA-NRCS (2023) shows it from 91 counties in Kentucky from far western counties to most of the eastern counties. BONAP (2014) shows approximately the same distribution in Kentucky. In all likelihood, the blue mistflower is in every Kentucky county.
Correll, D.S. and M.C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas. Contributions from Texas Research Foundation, Volume 6. Texas Research Foundation. Renner, TX. 1881 p.
Gandhi, K.N. and R.D. Thomas. 1989. Asteraceae of Louisiana. Sida, Botanical Miscellany, No. 4. Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Dallas, TX. 202 p.
Gleason, H.A. 1952b. The new Britton and Brown illustrated flora of the Northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. Volume. 3. Hafner Press. New York, NY. 594 p.
Fernald, M.L. 1970. Gray’s manual of Botany. Eighth edition, Corrected printing. Van Nostrand Company. New York, NY. 1632 p.
Jones, R.L. 2005. Plant life of Kentucky: An illustrated guide to the vascular flora. The University Press of Kentucky. 834 p.
Weakley, A.S. and the Southeastern Flora Committee. 2023. Flora of the Southeastern United States. Edition of 14 April 2023. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC. 2015 p. Available at https://ncbg.unc.edu/research/unc-herbarium/flora-request/. Downloaded 9 May 2023.
Wunderlin, R.P. 1982. Guide to the vascular plants of Central Florida. University Presses of Florida. Gainesville, FL. 472 p.
All Photos by author.
David Taylor, Forest Botanist for the Daniel Boone National Forest for the last 34 years, works with rare plants, invasive plants and plants in general. Most of his hiking and plant observations occur in the eastern and east-central parts of Kentucky. He encourages native plants and works to remove invasive plants on his property in central Kentucky.
In March 2022, I was lucky enough to find a new population of Turk’s cap lilies (Lilium superbum) containing about 500 stems in two colonies in McCracken County while searching for spring ephemerals. Additional searches yielded five more colonies containing another 1,700 individuals, all within about 75 yards of each other.
Due to my unfamiliarity with this plant and the lack of blooms, it took a little research to verify they were Turk’s cap lilies and not their close relative, Michigan lily (L. michiganense). Dichotomous keys usually differentiate between these plants using flower characteristics i.e., tepal curvature and anther length, which is not very helpful if you don’t have a flower to examine. Several online sources mentioned two vegetative characteristics to check: L. superbum has smooth leaf margins (not finely serrate), and the bulbs are white (not yellow). The plants I found exhibited both of these features so I’m going with the Turks cap lily. This plant was found by Mr. Raymond Athey less than 10 miles from this site in 1978, so there is historical evidence supporting the L. superbum identification, as well.
That being said, some botanists are reluctant to rely on the vegetative characteristics described above and feel that positive identification requires examination of flower structures. After being moved to more suitable sites in the future, my hope is that some of these bulbs will produce flowers allowing their identity to be determined beyond any doubt.
The species name is pronounced “superb – um” as opposed to “super – bum” and refers to the flowers, which can be translated from Latin as proud, superb, excellent, splendid, or magnificent. Mr. Linnaeus did a good job naming this plant back in 1762!
Ecology
Turk’s cap lilies are classified as threatened in Kentucky by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves and probably occur in less than a dozen counties. They are scattered across the state from Black Mountain in Harlan County in the east to Carlisle County in the west. Threatened plants are defined by the OKNP as “… likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant part of its range in Kentucky.” So, the assumption is that their numbers are declining and will continue to do so in the future.
Counties where Lilium superbum occurs in the U.S.
The BONAP map (Biota of North America Project) to the right displays the counties where Lilium superbum occurs in the U.S. Light green counties have stable populations while those highlighted in yellow have populations that are small and possibly declining.
It is generally more common in upland areas along the Appalachian Mountain chain, which includes Black Mountain. So how did they end up in McCracken County and across the Ohio River in southern Illinois? Some botanists have theorized that many southern plant species migrated north and west following the Cumberland River and the Tennessee River, which join up with the Ohio River near Paducah. Perhaps the lilies travelled from the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee along these waterways over the last several thousand years or so.
We have several native plants in Kentucky named after reptiles, snakeroot, lizard’s tail, adder’s tongue fern, and three rattlesnakes, master, plantain, and root. We also have green dragon and snapdragon, but they don’t really count because, well, you know…. the one named after a turtle is appropriately named turtlehead.
Kentucky’s two turtleheads are distinguished by flower color, white and red. White turtlehead (Chelone glabra) has been observed in 38 of our 120 counties across the state but is mostly absent west of the Land Between the Lakes. Red turtlehead, also called Pink or Rose, (Chelone obliquavar. speciosa) fills the void in western Kentucky and is also found in a few counties towards the center of the state (10 total). A rare third variety of Red turtlehead (classified as endangered) grows in three southeastern counties (Chelone obliquavar. obliqua). Another pink variety that is commercially available is Lyon’s turtlehead (Chelone lyonii), but it is not native to Kentucky.
Description and growing conditions
Chelone
As the name implies, turtleheads possess flowers that resemble the head of a turtle. They grow two to three feet tall with opposite, lanceolate leaves sporting serrated edges that can reach a length of six inches. The one to one a half inch flowers are borne on a dense terminal spike in late summer to early fall and persist for about a month.
Turtleheads grow in wetlands and enjoy keeping their feet wet and their tops in full sun or partial shade. They aren’t picky about pH and can tolerate both acid and basic soils if organic matter is present. The flowers are visited by hummingbirds and pollinated by bumble bees which appreciate having a late season food source available before entering diapause for the winter. Deer generally avoid the plants due to their bitter leaves but some amount of browsing can occur where deer populations are high. I sacrificed a leaf from one of my seedlings (see below) to verify the bitter leaf theory and can attest that it is true. That being said, the dried leaves are used to make tea, and they are also incorporated into an ointment.
Red turtlehead is listed as a species of special concern by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. To gauge its rarity, consider that there are only seven observations of red turtlehead in Kentucky on iNaturalist. Compare that with 1,224 may apples, 1,110 spring beauties and 1,086 blue phloxes.
Chelone
I was fortunate to find several Red turtlehead plants last fall in McCracken County. I collected seeds in November, sowed half of them immediately and the remainder stayed in my garage until March. The germination rate for both batches was very high – probably 75 percent. There were no problems with damping off or other fungal issues and I’m looking forward to finding homes for about 60 seedlings this fall.
Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly
The white turtlehead (not the red) is the host plant for the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly, which has been the state insect of Maryland since 1973. It was named for George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore who helped found the colony of Maryland. Its wing spot colors and patterns resemble those on the Calvert family crest. Unfortunately, it has experienced a significant population decline and is currently listed as rare in the state. In 2012, the Baltimore Checkerspot Recovery Team of Maryland formed to develop and implement plans to reverse this trend, which includes increasing the white turtlehead population in the state. Details of their plan including an excellent section on turtlehead propagation can be found at Conservation and Management of the Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton) in the Maryland Piedmont: Strategies for Wetland Restoration, Captive Breeding and Release
It is also rare in Kentucky having been reported from only 18 counties. There is only one iNaturalist observation of this butterfly in Kentucky, from Henry County. While the odds are high that you’ve never seen a Baltimore checkerspot in the wild, it’s possible you’ve seen one in your mailbox. The US Postal Service issued two stamps with the image of this butterfly: a 13-cent stamp in 1977 and a 65-cent stamp in 2012.
So how did the state butterfly of Maryland make it onto two stamps whereas Kentucky’s state butterfly, the viceroy, has yet to grace an envelope in the United States? I’m guessing the fact that the Maryland border is about four miles from the United States Postal System Headquarters in downtown DC has something to do with it. Of course, everyone would mistake our viceroy with a monarch anyway, so maybe we will never see our butterfly on a stamp!
So why should you add turtlehead to your native plant garden? This hardy, easy-to-grow perennial with distinctive flowers will lend color to your garden late into the fall. Bumble bees and hummingbirds will thank you for giving them a late season nectar source after many of our other native plants have gone to seed. Finally, we all know how we are all encouraged to plant milkweed to help the monarch butterfly. The fact is there are many other insects that need our help. So, plant turtlehead in your garden and maybe you will be lucky enough to see a checkerspot butterfly in real life instead of just on a postage stamp!
Robert Dunlap is an amateur naturalist living near Paducah who owns every Peterson Field Guide that was ever published.
The Lady Slipper newsletter of the Kentucky Native Plant Society has been published since the Society’s founding in 1986. We occasionally feature an article from a past issue. This one, about a rare, and threatened, native vine, Clematis crispa, commonly known as Blue Jasmine or Swamp Leather-Flower, first appeared in the summer of 2013, Vol. 28, No. 2. If you would like to see other past issues, visit the Lady Slipper Archives, where all issues from Vol. 1, No. 1, February 1986 to Vol. 34, No. 1, Winter/Spring 2019 (after which we moved to this blog format) can be found.
One of the plants I look for every spring in western Kentucky is Clematis crispa, commonly known as Blue Jasmine or Swamp Leather-Flower. C. crispa is listed as “Threatened” by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves and is only known from the four western counties along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers – Ballard, Carlisle, Hickman and Fulton. It occurs in a few counties across the rivers in southern Illinois and western Missouri and becomes more common as you head into the southern states.
As its name implies, this native clematis likes to grow in wetlands, floodplains and swamps. All of the sites where I’ve found this plant growing in Ballard and Carlisle counties are flooded for some portion of the year when the rivers decide to overflow their banks. In addition to enjoying getting its feet wet, C. crispa prefers a bright location and is usually found competing for sunlight along with all the other vine species that like to grow in swampy conditions. The stems of this herbaceous vine grow to a length of 6- 10 feet and the plants die back to ground level each winter. The flowers consist of four sepals (no petals) that curl backwards resulting in an urn-like appearance.
Finding this plant in the field is a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Searching for the purple-blue flowers before the neighboring vines have put out all of their foliage affords the best chance for success. Another option that requires good eyesight is to search for the distinctive seed pods, sometimes referred to as “Devil’s Darning Needles” in the fall.
Two additional native clematis species that can be found in western Kentucky include C. pitcheri (Bluebill) and C. virginiana (Virgin’s Bower). Differentiating C. crispa from C. pitcheri is best accomplished by examining the undersides of the leaves. C. pitcheri exhibits a prominent raised network of veins which are absent on C. crispa.
A quick internet search turned up several native plant nurseries where Swamp Leather- Flower can be purchased. From the planting advice given on these sites it apparently does well when grown in containers and I’m guessing it would make a nice addition to an outdoor pond or water garden
June 20th-26th is National Pollinator Week, an annual internationally celebrated event to educate, support and celebrate all things pollinator conservation. As plant enthusiasts, we have an appreciation and respect for pollinators’ complex and fascinating relationship to plant reproduction. The most well-known pollinator is probably the Monarch Butterfly, which has been reared by school children for decades in lessons about the butterfly life cycle. The monarch has captured the wonder of the public with its spectacular migration, with millions of monarchs traveling up to 3,000 miles to central Mexico and the California coast to overwinter annually.
Monarch Butterfly: Spring & Fall Migrations in North America, map by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Unfortunately, since the mid-1990s, the eastern monarch population (accounting for 99% of all North American monarchs) has declined by approximately 85%. There are six major threats to monarchs that have caused this major decline: loss of breeding habitat, climate change, loss of overwintering habitat, natural enemies, pesticides, and general anthropogenic factors. In response to the population loss, monarchs are currently on the candidate waiting list for Endangered Species Act protection. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a 2024 deadline to propose them for protection as threatened.
Mexico’s Commission of Natural Resources and WWF Mexico conduct annual counts of monarchs in the overwintering locations, oyamel fir forests of high-elevation mountaintops in central Mexico. To truly count millions of monarchs would be a monumental task, therefore the population is reported as an estimation of area of monarch populated overwintering habitat. The most recent count was reported as 7 acres (2.84 hectare) of occupied overwinter habitat, which is well below the 14.8 acres (6 hectare) threshold scientists say is needed to keep the monarch out of the risk of extinction in North America.
2022 Eastern Migratory Monarch Winter Population. Credit: Center for Biological Diversity.
In the United States, monarchs have lost up to 165 million acres of breeding habitat due to herbicide use and anthropogenic development. Monarchs rely on milkweed species (Asclepias sp.) as a host for laying eggs and as food when they are caterpillars. Historically, milkweed species were much more widespread and abundant. Between 1999 and 2012, milkweed numbers across the midwest declined by an estimated 64% due to threats such as habitat loss, anthropogenic development, and herbicide use.
One of the easiest things to do to help monarch populations is to provide breeding habitat by planting native milkweeds. Kentucky has 13 native milkweeds, and several species are available at native plant nurseries across the state.
List of Kentucky Resources for Purchasing Milkweed
Clasping Milkweed is found in sandhills, barrens, woodlands, and dry, sandy or gravelly soils. Its common name refers to the way the opposite leaf bases wrap around or “clasp” the stem. The Clasping Milkweed is an upright milkweed with an unbranched stem, with a single rounded cluster of pink purple flowers at the top. The flowers have a sweet fragrance similar to that of roses and cloves. This species is uncommon throughout Kentucky.
Asclepias exaltata, Poke Milkweed
The Poke Milkweed can be found in moist forests, slopes and forest margins. It has petioled, non-linear, opposite leaves that occur along erect to ascending stems. The flower umbels are relatively open and droop from long pedicels. Flowers of the Poke Milkweed are bi-colored, displaying a lovely composition of green to pale purple petals and white to light pink hoods and column. This species is uncommon in Kentucky, occurring in the Appalachian Plateau and Interior Low Plateau.
The Prairie Milkweed is a State Threatened milkweed species that occurs in limestone glades and prairies. It has erect to ascending stems that can range from glabrous to densely pubescent, with widely spreading to ascending alternate, linear leaves. Flowers develop from the axils of the middle to upper leaves, occurring in dense globoid umbels of white to green flowers.
Asclepias incarnata var. incarnata, Swamp Milkweed
Swamp Milkweed occurs commonly across Kentucky in swamps, marshes, and other wet areas, especially over limestones and calcareous shale. The stems are erect to ascending, with course, petiolate leafs in an opposite arrangement. The flowers occur in flat umbels atop the stem, with vibrant pink flowers that have a fragrance similar to cinnamon.
Aquatic Milkweed occurs commonly in the Coastal Plain of Kentucky, occurring in cypress-gum swamps, bottomland hardwood forests, and marshes. The stems are erect, with short petioled leaves in an opposite arrangement. Flowers occur in flat umbels atop the stem or in the axils, with white to pale pink coloration.
Asclepias purpurascens, Purple Milkweed (State Special Concern)
Purple Milkweed is a State Special Concern milkweed that occurs throughout Kentucky in openings in moist bottomlands and swamp forests, prairies and woodlands. The steams are erect, with large opposite leaves up to 6 inches long. Deep purple flowers occur in relatively dense rounded umbels, with up to 6 umbels occurring terminally on the stem.
Asclepias quadrifolia, Four-leaf Milkweed
Four-leaf Milkweed occurs commonly in the Interior Low Plateau and Appalachian Plateau of Kentucky in moist forest and forest margins. This species has erect stems with both mid-stem whorled leaves and opposite leaves. The small pink and white flowers occur in umbels atop the stem, with relatively few flowers per umbel.
Asclepias syriaca, Common Milkweed
Common Milkweed, as its name implies, is common throughout Kentucky in pastures, roadsides and disturbed areas. This tall milkweed has stout erect stems, with large sessile leaves in an opposite arrangement. The flowers occur in large dense umbels of pink to purple flowers, with an attractive fragrance.
Butterflyweed is a species of milkweed that occurs across Kentucky in woodland margins, roadsides and pastures. This species can be easily identified by its vibrant orange flowers, which occur in terminal clusters. The stems are erect to ascending, with sessile to short petiolate leaves in an opposite arrangement. Unlike other milkweeds, Butterflyweed does not have milky sap.
Redring Milkweed is an uncommon species that occurs across Kentucky in upland forests and woodlands. This species has a single narrow stem, with petiolate leaves in an opposite arrangement. The flowers occur in spherical umbels, with white flowers with a red ring around the middle, giving it it’s common name.
The Whorled Milkweed is an uncommon milkweed that occurs across Kentucky in barrens, thin soils of rock outcrops, open woodlands, pine flatwoods, and road and powerline right-of-ways. This species has erect stems with sessile, linear leafs in a whorled arrangement. The fragrant greenish white flowers occur in umbellate cymes in the upper leaf axils and stem ends.
The Green Milkweed is an uncommon milkweed that occurs across Kentucky in open woodlands, woodland edges, barrens, glades, and disturbed areas. This species has an erect stem with elliptical leaves in an opposite arrangement. Pale green flower clusters occur in the upper leaf axils of the plant.
Asclepias viridis, Spider Milkweed
Spider Milkweed occurs across Kentucky and occurs in prairies, dry woodlands, calcareous hammocks, and pine rocklands. The stems are ascending, with course textured leaves with short petioles in alternate to sub-opposite arrangement. The large flowers are green, purple and white, without horns, occurring in a solitary umbel atop the stem.
Tara Littlefield, OKNP Botanist, KNPS board member
The sweet, sweet pinesap (Monotropsis odorata), a globally rare little herbaceous plant related to the heath family (now placed in the family Monotropaceae, formerly in the Ericaceae), gets its name from the sweet, clove like scent it emits in the early spring. It is one of those plants that you can find just by using your nose. In fact, you would have better luck finding this plant by its smell rather than sight as it’s a master of disguise, camouflaging its tiny self (just a couple inches tall) among the oak and pine leaf litter in the acidic uplands of the Appalachians.
Sweet pinesap. @LittlefieldSweet pinesap. @LittlefieldCan you see the sweet pinesap? @LittlefieldSweet Pinesap global range. This globally rare plant occurs more often in North Carolina and Virginia, but is tracked as rare throughout its range. While state endangered in KY, the Red River Gorge is a disjunct hotspot for sweet pinesap. @BONAP range map.Its leaves are brown and scale like, covering its pale purple flower stalk and yellowish flower, completely disguising the patches of sweet pinesap as oak leaf litter @Littlefield
In addition to its diminutive size, camouflaged adaptations, and strong sweet odor, it is even more of an oddity in the plant world. This little hidden plant gets its energy NOT from the sun, a characteristic plant trait, but from partnering up with mycorrhizal fungi in the soil! No need to photosynthesize and be green if you have friendly fungus among us to help you out. There are not that many plants that have chosen this path of forgoing the sun and going all in with fungal co evolution. These same mycorrhizal fungi are also attached to the roots of the oaks and pines of the acidic Appalachian ridgetop forests and serve an important role of creating an underground network of plants and fungi communicating and sharing nutrients for survival. They call this type of plant a mycoheterotroph-a plant that gets its energy from mycorrhizal fungi.
Pollen from the sweet pinesap falls to the ground. @Littlefield.
One of my favorite springtime rituals in Kentucky is to visit the Red River Gorge at the end of March to early April and use my nose to locate patches of sweet pinesap while hiking along the trails of the upland ridges. During the KNPS wildflower weekend this year, a group of excited plant enthusiasts did just that. Walking the pine oak ridge tops, our group took in the scenes of chestnut oaks, scraggly pitch and Virginia pines, and among the little violets, bluets and tufts of pin cushion and broom moss, a faint sweet smell became stronger, until it was so strong our group stopped and knew we were upon a sweet pinesap population. Looking around the leaf litter, we finally located the sweet pine sap, and we all dropped to the ground to view this little beauty in all is glory, enamored by its wonderful smell and amazing adaptations for survival.
KNPS hike to search for the elusive sweet pinesap. Estella and Henry Berry find the sweet pinesap! @LittlefieldYou have to get down close to view the sweet pinesap. @LittlefieldAlan Abbott gets down close to photograph the elusive beauty. @LittlefieldDr. Koslow, KNPS board member, looks closely at a patch of sweet pinesap. @LittlefieldKNPS hike to search for the elusive sweet pinesap, April 9th, 2022.
