The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

limestone hedge-hyssop, Quarterman's hedge-hyssop

golden hedge-hyssop, gratiole dorée

Habit Annuals. Perennials.
Stems

erect, simple or few-branched, (7–)10–21(–30) cm, glabrous or glabrate proximally, sparsely glandular-puberulent distally.

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

Leaves

blade linear to linear-lanceolate or lanceolate-elliptic, often falcate, (16–)18–30(–43) × (1–)2.5–5 mm, margins entire or with 1 or 2(or 3) pairs of blunt teeth distally, apex obtuse to acute, surfaces glabrous or glabrate.

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

slender, 7–14(–22) mm, length 0.5–1(–1.6) times bract, sparsely glandular-puberulent;

bracteoles 2, 2–4.5 mm.

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

bracteoles 2, 2–4 mm.

Flowers

sepals distinct, lanceolate, 2.7–5 mm;

corolla 7–9 mm, tube and limb white tinged with pink or purple, veins white to greenish white or lavender;

style 3–4.6 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

ovoid, 3.4–5.1 × 3–4.5 mm.

ovoid, 2.2–4.5 × 2–3.5 mm.

Seeds

0.4–0.7 mm.

0.4–0.6 mm.

2n

= 28.

Gratiola quartermaniae

Gratiola lutea

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun. Flowering May–Oct.
Habitat Seeps, pools, and streams in limestone and dolomite glades, alvars, calcareous grasslands. Acidic freshwater pondshores, blackwater stream banks, cypress savannas, acidic wetlands, swamps.
Elevation 50–300 m. (200–1000 ft.) 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; IL; KY; TN; TX; ON
[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

Populations of Gratiola quartermaniae are concentrated in northern Alabama and central Tennessee. Disjunct populations are known from the Edwards Plateau of Texas, Will County, Illinois, and southeastern Ontario. D. Estes and R. L. Small (2007) discussed the distribution and ecology of G. quartermaniae.

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

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. 268. FNA vol. 17, p. 267.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Gratiola Plantaginaceae > Gratiola
Sibling taxa
G. amphiantha, G. brevifolia, G. ebracteata, G. floridana, G. graniticola, G. heterosepala, G. lutea, G. neglecta, 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 D. Estes: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 1: 163, figs. 3C,F, 8. (2007) Rafinesque: Med. Repos., hexade 3, 2: 333. (1811)
Web links