Hexastylis minor (Ashe) Blomquist. Common name: Little Heartleaf. Phenology: Feb-May. Habitat: Upland or moist forests. Distribution: Endemic to the Piedmont and adjacent Coastal Plain and Mountains of nc. VA, NC, and nc. SC.
ID notes: This species can be easily confused with H. virginica, which tends to have less variegated leaves, and a corolla that either lacks a constriction mid-way or is only partially constricted.
Origin/Endemic status: Endemic
Synonymy ⓘ: = K4, NS, Va, W, Gaddy (1987a), Gaddy (2011); = Asarum minus Ashe — Sinn (2015); = Hexastylis minus — Blomquist (1957), grammatical error; < Asarum minus Ashe — POWO; < Asarum virginicum L. — F; < Hexastylis minor (Ashe) Blomq. — FNA3, RAB; < Hexastylis virginica (L.) Small — C, G, S
Links to other floras: < Hexastylis minor - FNA3
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Horticultural Information
Intro: Low-growing, stemless, rhizomatous perennial found in upland or moist forests.
Stems:
Leaves: Leaves on long petioles arising directly from a rhizome, heart- to kidney-shaped, 1½-3 in. long, variegated, evergreen-leathery, with a spicy smell when torn.
Inforescence:
Flowers: Flowers arise from the rhizome on such short stalks that they are often hidden beneath leaf litter. They are maroon-red outside and in; about ½ in. long; weakly bell-shaped and prominently flared at or above the middle of the tube, with strongly spreading, widely triangular lobes (the lobes often mottled with white); firm-fleshy and prominently ridged-reticulate within.
Fruits: Fruit a round, fleshy capsule.
Comments: Endemic to the Piedmont and adjacent Coastal Plain and Mountains of nc. VA, NC, and nc. SC.
Height: 3-6 in.
plant sale text:
bloom table text:
description: Low-growing, stemless, rhizomatous perennial found in upland or moist forests.
stems:
leaves: Leaves on long petioles arising directly from a rhizome, heart- to kidney-shaped, 1½-3 in. long, variegated, evergreen-leathery, with a spicy smell when torn.
inflorescence:
flowers: Flowers arise from the rhizome on such short stalks that they are often hidden beneath leaf litter. They are maroon-red outside and in; about ½ in. long; weakly bell-shaped and prominently flared at or above the middle of the tube, with strongly spreading, widely triangular lobes (the lobes often mottled with white); firm-fleshy and prominently ridged-reticulate within.
fruits: Fruit a round, fleshy capsule.
comments: Endemic to the Piedmont and adjacent Coastal Plain and Mountains of nc. VA, NC, and nc. SC.
cultural notes:
germination code:
native range: VA, NC & SC