Flora of North America species comparison

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Prosartes maculata

Prosartes

nodding mandarin, yellow mandarin

fairy-bell, fairybells
Habit Plants 3–8 dm, glabrescent with age. Herbs, from slender, knotty rhizomes with fibrous roots, generally pubescent throughout.
Stems

sparingly branched.

branched distally, with 2–5 papery bracts sheathing proximally.
Leaves

4–15 × 2–4 cm;

blade ovate to lanceolate, rounded to subcordate basally, abaxial surface veins and margins pubescent, hairs scattered, flattened, apex sharply acuminate, with (3–)5 prominent veins.

sessile or subsessile;

blade broadly ovate to oblanceolate, veinlets forming loose reticulum.
Inflorescences

strictly terminal.
Flowers

1–3(–4);

perianth broadly campanulate;

tepals creamy white spotted with purple, ovate-lanceolate, abruptly narrowly clawed basally, 15–25 mm, apex acuminate;

stamens exserted;

filaments filiform, 15–20 mm;

anthers 3–6 mm;

ovary obconic to obpyriform, becoming 3-lobed after anthesis, papillose with ascending, stellate glandular hairs, ovules 2–4 per locule, horizontal;

style 1.4–2.3 cm, glabrous;

stigma 3-lobed.

1–4(–7) in a cluster, nodding, pedicellate;

tepals deciduous, distinct, weakly gibbous proximally;

stamens hypogynous, basally adnate to tepals;

filaments filiform to basally dilated;

anthers linear-oblong, extrorse;

ovary superior, sessile, 3-locular, narrowly ellipsoid to obovoid, ovules 2–6 per locule, pendulous or horizontal;

style included or exserted, filiform;

stigma not lobed or weakly 3-lobed;

pedicel slender.
Fruits

baccate, straw-colored to red, ± fleshy.
Berries

pale straw-colored, 3-lobed, 6–10-seeded, 10–15 mm, papillose with stellate hairs arising from papillae;

lobes subglobose.

Seeds

4 mm.

light yellow to orangish brown, ellipsoid to oblong, smooth. x = 6, 8, 9, 11.
2n

= 12. 

Prosartes maculata

Prosartes
Phenology Flowering early–late spring.
Habitat Rich, moist, deciduous woods, slopes and ravines
Elevation 100–800 m (300–2600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; GA; KY; MI; NC; OH; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
North America
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

This rare old-forest obligate is readily distinguished by its purple-spotted, clawed tepals and its three-lobed, straw-colored, hairy-papillose fruit (R. G. Johnson 1968).

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

Species 5 (5 in the flora).

The American species have long been treated as section Prosartes of the otherwise Asian genus Disporum (H. Hara 1988; Q. Jones 1951). However, cytological, morphological, and molecular evidence indicates a degree of difference that justifies generic status for this group (M. N. Tamura et al. 1992; Z. K. Shinwari et al. 1994; T. Fukuhara and Z. K. Shinwari 1994). Within Prosartes there are two disjunct, east-west pairs: P. lanuginosa and P. hookeri, and P. trachycarpa and P. maculata (F. H. Utech et al. 1995; C. E. Wood Jr. 1970).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Ovary broadly ovoid to obovoid or obconic to obpyriform, becoming 3-lobed after anthesis, papillose, sometimes also with ascending, stellate glandular hairs; ovules horizontal; leaf margins moderately pubescent, hairs scattered, flattened.
→ 2
1. Ovary ellipsoid or ovoid to obovoid, glabrous or somewhat pubescent; ovules pendulous; leaf margins glabrous or short-pubescent.
→ 3
2. Leaf apex acute, with 7–9 prominent veins; tepals lacking purple spots and basal claws, 8–15 mm; ovary finely papillose; berries reddish orange to bright red; cordilleran and interior North America.
P. trachycarpa
2. Leaf apex acuminate, with (3–)5 prominent veins; tepals spotted with purple, narrowly clawed basally, 15–25 mm; ovary papillose with stellate glandular hairs; berries pale straw-colored; e North America.
P. maculata
3. Stems freely branched; leaf margins glabrous or sparsely pubescent; perianth cylindrical, truncate basally; tepals 15–28 mm; berries 3–6-seeded; coastal w North America.
P. smithii
3. Stems sparingly branched; leaf margins short-pubescent, hairs pointed sharply forward; perianth turbinate, narrowed basally; tepals 8–22 mm; berries 1–4(–6)-seeded; e, w North America.
→ 4
4. Tepals greenish yellow, linear-lanceolate, apex long-acuminate; ovary glabrous; stigma weakly 3-lobed; abaxial leaf surface lanulose, densely so on veins; e North America.
P. lanuginosa
4. Tepals creamy white, oblanceolate, apex short-acuminate; ovary glabrous or somewhat pubescent; stigma unlobed or rarely 3-lobed; abaxial leaf surface scabrous or puberulent, especially on veins; w North America.
P. hookeri
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 144. FNA vol. 26, p. 142. Author: Frederick H. Utech.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Prosartes Liliaceae
Sibling taxa
P. hookeri, P. lanuginosa, P. smithii, P. trachycarpa
Subordinate taxa
P. hookeri, P. lanuginosa, P. maculata, P. smithii, P. trachycarpa
Synonyms Streptopus maculatus, Disporum cahnae, Disporum maculatum, Disporum schaffneri Disporum section P.
Name authority (Buckley) A. Gray: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 47: 201. (1844) D. Don: Proc. Linn. Soc. London 1: 48. (1839)
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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