Asarum caudatum
Asarum
British Columbia wildginger, creeping wild ginger, long-tail wild ginger, western wild ginger, wild ginger
asaret, gingembre sauvage, wild-ginger
horizontal, shallow, internodes (0.5-)1.5-6.5 cm.
blade not variegate, cordate, 3-8.5 × 4.5-12 cm, apex usually obtuse, occasionally broadly acute;
surfaces abaxially sparsely appressed-hirsute, at least proximally, adaxially glabrous or sparsely appressed-hirsute, marginal hairs perpendicular to margin or curved toward apex.
blade membranous or leathery, pubescent at least abaxially and on margins.
terminal on rhizome, flowers solitary;
bracts absent.
horizontal;
peduncle 1.5- calyx tube cylindric, externally brown-purple, rarely greenish, hirsute, internally white, usually with median purple stripe, with usually purple, rarely white hairs;
distal portion of sepal spreading or weakly (rarely strongly) reflexed at anthesis, (11-)30-75 mm, apex filiform-attenuate, abaxially purple or greenish, sparsely hirsute, adaxially purple, puberulent with crisped purple hairs;
pollen sacs 1.5-2 mm, sterile tip of connective on inner stamens purple, 0.5-1 mm, shorter than pollen sacs.
sepals distinct, usually mixture of white, green, tan, red, or purple, proximally touching valvately and forming well-de tube, externally usually villous, inner surface strigose, smooth or with weak longitudinal ribs, never with network of low ridges;
vestigial petals present or absent;
stamens 12, distinct;
filaments longer than pollen sacs;
terminal appendage of anther well developed;
ovary inferior, 6-locular;
styles connate in column.
fleshy, dehiscence irregular.
ovoid, not winged, with fleshy appendage.
= 13.
= 26.
Asarum caudatum
Asarum
In most populations of Asarum caudatum, the distal portion of the sepal is spreading or weakly reflexed and 30-75 mm. A single population south of Mt. Shasta, California, has the distal sepals strongly reflexed and unusually short, often as little as 1.1 cm. Flowers of these plants superficially resemble those of A. lemmonii; they differ in being horizontal, not descending as in A. lemmonii, and in the filiform-attenuate sepals.
Native Americans used Asarum caudatum medicinally to treat headaches, intestinal pain, knee pain, indigestion, boils, tuberculosis, and colic, and as a general tonic (D. E. Moerman 1986).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Species ca. 10 (6 in the flora).
The species seem amply distinct, but herbarium material can be difficult to key for several reasons. First, the diagnostic colors of some organs (especially of the connective and the inner hairs of the calyx) often darken on drying. Second, immature flowers and young fruit are superficially similar to mature flowers, but color and posture of floral organs may be different at those stages. For instance, posture of the distal portion of sepals at anthesis (whether erect, spreading, or reflexed) is diagnostic for the species, but sepals in all species are erect in bud and in fruit. Third, as in Hexastylis, distortion of the flower in pressing makes it difficult to interpret calyx structure. In particular, the distinction between proximal portions of the sepals, which meet valvately to form a well-defined false calyx tube, and distal portions, which do not, is obvious in fresh material but often unclear in the herbarium.
The flowers of Asarum are predominantly self-pollinated, but they are occasionally visited by mycotrophic flies (K. L. Lu 1982).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Adaxial leaf surface almost always with white or silvery variegations; sterile tip of connective on inner stamens at least as long as pollen sacs; underground stems erect or ascending, deeply buried, internodes 0.2–1.5 cm. | → 2 |
1. Leaf surface never variegate; sterile tip of connective on inner stamens shorter than (rarely about as long as) pollen sacs; rhizomes horizontal, shallow (deeply buried in A. wagneri), internodes 0.5–6.5 cm. | → 3 |
2. False calyx tube subglobose, inner surface dark red with purple hairs; distal part of sepal tan or greenish (inner surface rarely red proximally), erect or spreading at anthesis, 17–52 mm; marginal hairs of leaf ± perpendicular. | A. marmoratum |
2. False calyx tube cylindric, inner surface white with brownish purple stripes and white hairs (turning brown with age); distal part of sepal reddish, spreading perpendicularly or reflexed at anthesis (but erect in bud and fruit), 12–27 mm; marginal hairs of leaf strongly curved toward apex. | A. hartwegii |
3. Flower descending; divergent part of sepal strongly reflexed at anthesis, 4–8 mm, acute to apiculate or short-acuminate. | A. lemmonii |
3. Flower horizontal to erect; divergent part of sepal spreading or reflexed at anthesis, 6–75 mm, apiculate to acuminate or filiform-attenuate. | → 4 |
4. Flowers horizontal; divergent part of sepal (11–)30–75 mm; leaves cordate. | A. caudatum |
4. Flowers erect or ascending; divergent part of sepal 6–24 mm; leaves cordate-reniform to reniform. | → 5 |
5. Adaxial surface of distal sepals purple; false calyx tube cylindric, outer surface usually tan or purplish; e North America. | A. canadense |
5. Adaxial surface of distal sepals white or light green (at least distally); false calyx tube subglobose to cylindric-urceolate or urceolate, outer surface light green; s Oregon. | A. wagneri |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
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- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
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