Chelone obliqua Linnaeus. Common name: Purple Turtlehead. Phenology: Jul-Oct; Sep-Nov. Habitat: Streambanks, swamp forests, ecotones of freshwater tidal marshes. Distribution: MD and TN south to GA and MS.
Origin/Endemic status: Endemic
Taxonomy Comments: Chelone obliqua (in the narrow sense) is hexaploid (Nelson 2024; Nelson, Elisens, & Benish 1998).
Synonymy ⓘ: = Nelson (2024); = Chelone obliqua L. ssp. obliqua — Pennell (1935); = Chelone obliqua L. var. obliqua — F, FNA17, K4, NE; < Chelone obliqua L. — C, G, GW2, RAB, S, Tn, Va, W. Basionym: Chelone obliqua L. 1767
Links to other floras: = Chelone obliqua var. obliqua - FNA17
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Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: OBL (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
- Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: OBL (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
- Great Plains: OBL (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
- Midwest: OBL (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
- Northcentral & Northeast: OBL (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
Heliophily ⓘ: 5
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© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷Feedback
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Horticultural Information
Intro: Upright perennial of stream banks in floodplain forests and swamp forests.
Stems: Stems simple or sparingly branched, smooth.
Leaves: Leaves opposite, petiolate, lance-shaped tapering to a sharp tip, 3 1/2-5 1/2 in. long, and toothed.
Inforescence:
Flowers: Flowers in dense terminal spikes, vaguely 4-ranked and with leafy bracts that mostly conceal individual flower stalks; purple or red-purple, 1-1 3/8 in. long, tubular, somewhat flattened, with hood-like upper lip and a lower lip bearing a white or yellowish beard, 4 fertile stamens and a single white sterile stamen.
Fruits: Fruit an oval capsule, to 1/2 in. long
Comments:
Height: 2-3 ft..
plant sale text:
bloom table text:
description: Upright perennial of stream banks in floodplain forests and swamp forests.
stems: Stems simple or sparingly branched, smooth.
leaves: Leaves opposite, petiolate, lance-shaped tapering to a sharp tip, 3 1/2-5 1/2 in. long, and toothed.
inflorescence:
flowers: Flowers in dense terminal spikes, vaguely 4-ranked and with leafy bracts that mostly conceal individual flower stalks; purple or red-purple, 1-1 3/8 in. long, tubular, somewhat flattened, with hood-like upper lip and a lower lip bearing a white or yellowish beard, 4 fertile stamens and a single white sterile stamen.
fruits: Fruit an oval capsule, to 1/2 in. long
comments:
cultural notes:
germination code:
native range:
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