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bractless hedge-hyssop, common hedge hyssop

golden hedge-hyssop, gratiole dorée

Habit Annuals. Perennials.
Stems

decumbent to ascending or erect, simple or few-branched, (5–)15–22 cm, glabrous or glandular-puberulent distally.

decumbent to ascending or erect, simple or few-branched, 5–47 cm, glabrous proximally, sparsely glandular-puberulent distally.

Leaves

blade linear-lanceolate to lanceolate-ovate, 7–20(–32) × 1.5–5(–7) mm, margins entire, rarely with 1 or 2 pairs of teeth distally, apex acuminate to attenuate, surfaces glabrate or glandular-pubescent.

blade lanceolate-ovate to oblong or ovate-elliptic, sometimes linear-lanceolate on submerged plants, 5–26 × (1.5–)3–7(–9) mm, margins entire or with 1 or 2 pairs of teeth, apex obtuse, rarely acute, surfaces glabrous.

Pedicels

stout, (3–)7–25 mm, length 0.5–2.5 times bract, glabrous or obscurely glandular-pubescent distally;

bracteoles 0.

slender, (3–)5–20 mm, length 0.4–2.1 times bract, sparsely glandular-puberulent;

bracteoles 2, 2–4 mm.

Flowers

sepals distinct, lanceolate, (4–)7–11 mm;

calyx slightly bilaterally symmetric;

corolla 5–8(–10) mm, tube yellowish green or yellow, veins purple, limb white to pinkish white;

style 2–3 mm.

sepals distinct, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, 3.5–7 mm;

corolla 8–15 mm, tube and limb yellow, rarely white or cream, veins yellow to orangish yellow, rarely white;

style 3.5–5 mm.

Capsules

subglobular, 3–6 × 3.5–5 mm.

ovoid, 2.2–4.5 × 2–3.5 mm.

Seeds

0.4–0.9 mm.

0.4–0.6 mm.

2n

= 28.

Gratiola ebracteata

Gratiola lutea

Phenology Flowering Apr–Sep(–Nov). Flowering May–Oct.
Habitat Muddy to sandy stream banks, pond and lake shorelines, shallow water, wet meadows, vernal pools. Acidic freshwater pondshores, blackwater stream banks, cypress savannas, acidic wetlands, swamps.
Elevation 0–2100 m. (0–6900 ft.) 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; MA; MD; ME; MI; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NY; PA; RI; SC; VA; VT; WI; NB; NF; NS; ON; QC [Introduced in e Asia (Japan)]
Discussion

The name Gratiola aurea has been used widely for G. lutea due to questions about the applicability of the name by Rafinesque, which predates the name by Muhlenberg by two years. F. W. Pennell (1935) reviewed the nomenclatural history, noting that the type on which the name by Rafinesque is based, a collection by A. Michaux deposited at P, had been identified by A. Gray, M. L. Fernald, and S. F. Blake as G. neglecta. However, Pennell determined that the collection by Michaux was a mixed gathering and that the name by Rafinesque applies to the yellow-flowered element thereof.

Gratiola lutea (as G. aurea) has been reported from Crittenden County, Arkansas (W. H. Wilcox 1973); it is excluded from Arkansas in recent state checklists (E. B. Smith 1991; J. L. Gentry et al. 2013). Reports from Alabama may be based on misidentified specimens. A specimen identified as G. lutea has been collected in Japan (D. Estes 2008), where it was presumably introduced.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 266. FNA vol. 17, p. 267.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Gratiola Plantaginaceae > Gratiola
Sibling taxa
G. amphiantha, G. brevifolia, G. floridana, G. graniticola, G. heterosepala, G. lutea, G. neglecta, G. quartermaniae, G. ramosa, G. torreyi, G. virginiana, G. viscidula
G. amphiantha, G. brevifolia, G. ebracteata, G. floridana, G. graniticola, G. heterosepala, G. neglecta, G. quartermaniae, G. ramosa, G. torreyi, G. virginiana, G. viscidula
Synonyms G. aurea
Name authority Bentham ex A. de Candolle: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 10: 595. (1846) Rafinesque: Med. Repos., hexade 3, 2: 333. (1811)
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