Ponthieva racemosa (Walter) C. Mohr. Common name: Shadow Witch. Phenology: Sep-Mar; Oct-Apr. Habitat: Bottomlands, floodplains, moist ravines, nearly always over calcareous rock ('marl' or coquina limestone). Distribution: Se. VA south to s. FL and west to se. TX; disjunct in the Eastern Highland Rim, TN; West Indies; Mexico and Central America to South America.
ID notes: The basal rosette of leaves, white (suffused with green) flowers in fall to winter, and habitat are distinctive.
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Synonymy ⓘ: = C, ETx1, F, FNA26, G, GW1, K4, NS, POWO, RAB, S, S13, Tx, Va, WH3, WI, Brown (2002), Correll (1950); = Ponthieva glandulosa (Sims) R.Br.; = Ponthieva racemosa (Walter) C.Mohr var. racemosa — Luer (1975); Arethusa racemosa Walter — (basionym)
Links to other floras: = Ponthieva racemosa - FNA26
Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACW
- Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: OBL
Heliophily ⓘ: 3
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© Alan Cressler: Ponthieva racemosa, Walker County, Georgia 1 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
© Alan M. Cressler | Original Image ⭷
© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
© Alan M. Cressler | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷Feedback
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Horticultural Information
| Intro | Stems | Leaves | Inforescence | Flowers | Fruits | Comments | Height | plant sale text | bloom table text | description | stems | leaves | inflorescence | flowers | fruits | comments | cultural notes | germination code | native range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Erect perennial of bottomlands, floodplains and moist ravines, nearly always over calcareous rock (marl or coquina limestone). | Stem unbranched, purplish to green, hairy. | Leaves (3-8) in a basal rosette (bracts above on stem), short-petiolate, narrowly oblong-oval with bluntish tips, 3/4-5 in. long, lustrous green above. | Flowers (to 30) in a loose, terminal raceme, each flower positioned horizontally on a hairy stalk; greenish-white; about 1/2 in. wide; bilaterally symmetric; with obliquely triangular petals and a sepal at one end, a deeply concave and clawed lip-petal at the other end, and 2 oval sepals like wings to each side. | Fruit an ascending, ellipsoid capsule. | 6-18 in. | Erect perennial of bottomlands, floodplains and moist ravines, nearly always over calcareous rock (marl or coquina limestone). | Stem unbranched, purplish to green, hairy. | Leaves (3-8) in a basal rosette (bracts above on stem), short-petiolate, narrowly oblong-oval with bluntish tips, 3/4-5 in. long, lustrous green above. | Flowers (to 30) in a loose, terminal raceme, each flower positioned horizontally on a hairy stalk; greenish-white; about 1/2 in. wide; bilaterally symmetric; with obliquely triangular petals and a sepal at one end, a deeply concave and clawed lip-petal at the other end, and 2 oval sepals like wings to each side. | Fruit an ascending, ellipsoid capsule. |
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