| Author | (Chapman) Barnhart | |
| Distribution | Strictly coastal, ranging from southern Dare County south to the SC state line, being collected from five counties.
This Southern species is mostly coastal in range, at least in the Carolinas, ranging north to eastern NC. It ranges west to OK and much of TX, and is found well inland from FL to TX.
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| Abundance | Rare to locally uncommon, not nearly as rare as is the similar C. corymbosum. The NCNHP database has 19 records, of which 16 are still extant and about nine are considered of good to excellent condition. Thus, the website editors suggest a State Rank of S1S2, though S2 is not unreasonable. Oddly, despite it being much more numerous than is the other species in NC, this species is State Endangered (whereas that one is only State Threatened). | |
| Habitat | This is a species of sandy coastal soils. Most records are from margins or openings in maritime forests, though a few are from other sandy sites (on the mainland). | |
| Phenology | Blooms in April and May, and fruits from May to October. | |
| Identification | This is a low-growing, highly branched herb, reaching only about 6-8 inches tall. It is quite hairy all over, and it has numerous alternate stem leaves. The leaves are oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, about 1.5 inches long but only 1/3-inch wide; these leaves are longer and narrower than on the very similar C. corymbosum. This species has its flowers solitary in upper leaf axils or in 2-3-flowered cymes in terminal clusters, as opposed to dense flat-topped or rounded terminal clusters in the other maritime species. Each flower is similar to others in the genus, being bright yellow, with 5 petals and a flower spread about 1-inch across, slightly larger than those of C. corymbosum. Check keys for additional characters, especially if flowers or fruit are not present, as these two can be confused, growing in very similar habitats. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
All NC species of Crocanthemum were formerly placed in the genus Helianthemum. | |
| Other Common Name(s) | Georgia Sunrose | |
| State Rank | S1 [S1S2] | |
| Global Rank | G4 | |
| State Status | E | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
