Flora of North America species comparison

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Asarum caudatum

Asarum hartwegii

British Columbia wildginger, creeping wild ginger, long-tail wild ginger, western wild ginger, wild ginger

Hartweg's wild ginger
Rhizomes

horizontal, shallow, internodes (0.5-)1.5-6.5 cm.

erect or ascending, deeply buried, internodes 0.2-1.3 cm.
Leaves

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 almost always variegate with white or silver along veins, cordate to cordate-reniform, 5.3-10 × 7-14 cm, apex rounded-acute to rounded;

surfaces abaxially appressed-hirsute, usually sparsely so, adaxially glabrous or sparsely hirsute along veins, marginal hairs strongly curved toward apex.
Flowers

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.

erect;

peduncle 1-2.
Calyx

tube cylindric, externally reddish, sometimes mottled red and green, hirsute, internally white with brownish purple stripes and white hairs (becoming brown with age);

distal portion of sepal usually spreading at anthesis, sometimes reflexed or nearly erect, 12-27 mm, apex filiform-attenuate, abaxially reddish, hirsute, adaxially reddish, puberulent with crisped pale hairs;

pollen sacs 2 mm, sterile tip of connective on inner stamens pale (sometimes dark in dried specimens), 3-5 mm, longer than pollen sacs.
2n

= 26.

= 26.

Asarum caudatum

Asarum hartwegii
Phenology Flowering spring–summer (Apr–Jul). Flowering spring–summer (Apr–Jul).
Habitat Understory of conifer forests, usually in mesic or wet places Rocky slopes in dry conifer or oak forests
Elevation 0-1200(-2200) m (0-3900(-7200) ft) 150-2200 m (500-7200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Asarum hartwegii was confused with A. marmoratum until very recently; reports of A. hartwegii from southern Oregon are errors for A. marmoratum (M. R. Mesler and K. L. Lu 1990).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Aristolochiaceae > Asarum Aristolochiaceae > Asarum
Sibling taxa
A. canadense, A. hartwegii, A. lemmonii, A. marmoratum, A. wagneri
A. canadense, A. caudatum, A. lemmonii, A. marmoratum, A. wagneri
Name authority Lindley: Edwards's Bot. Reg. 17: footnote after plate 1399. (1831) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 10: 346. (1875)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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