Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Section: Common Name: Scientific Name: Family:
Account for Yellowseed False-pimpernel - Lindernia dubia   (L.) Pennell
Members of Linderniaceae:
Members of Lindernia with account distribution info or public map:
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Section 6 » Order Scrophulariales » Family Linderniaceae
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Author(L.) Pennell
DistributionThroughout the state, and probably occurs in all 100 counties. Weakley (2020) treats the 2 entities as full species. The extremes are easy to identify, but there are enough "intermediates" to be uncomfortable.

This is a very widespread species over much of North America. It occurs through the Eastern states.
AbundanceCommon to very common in the Coastal Plain; common in the eastern Piedmont, but just fairly common to frequent in the central and western Piedmont and Mountains. The State Rank of the species is clearly S5.
HabitatThis is a widespread species of muddy places. It is often seen on the drawdown zones around lakes and ponds in summer, or in mud at marsh openings, openings and wet spots in bottomlands, in ditches, and in wet, sandy places.
PhenologyBlooms from June to September, and fruits shortly after flowering.
IdentificationThis is a familiar small plant of muddy places, in fresh waters. Stands of these plants quickly occupy recently exposed mud of shorelines in summer. It grows only to about 6-8 inches tall, with several stems from the base. It has scattered pairs of opposite leaves, each about 1-inch long, 1/3-inch wide, elliptical to more often obovate and tapered to the stem; they may be slightly toothed. Single flowers grow from many leaf axils, on variable-length stalks. In this species, the stalks are shorter than the leaves, but in anagallidea, these flower stalks are longer than the leaves. Each flower is like a tiny snapdragon, about 1/3-inch long, pale violet-white or blue-white (at least are whitish with a slight violet or blue tint); the 3-lobed lower lip extends beyond the 2-lobed upper lip, though you will need to be on hands and knees, or use binoculars or a telephoto lens, to see the flower structure. Mostly you can simply identify the species by its tiny, mini-bush look, with leaves tapering to a narrow base (not wide and clasping as in some Gratiola species), violet-tinged small white flowers, and usually growing in colonies on exposed mud.
Taxonomic CommentsMost references still consider several varieties as valid, including var. anagallidea. Weakley (2018) considered them as just forms, but in 2020 he elevated them to full species status without supporting data. However, the two taxa were considered by some authors as separate species a few decades ago, and most (but by no means all!) individuals readily key to one or another.

Other Common Name(s)False-pimpernel
State RankS4 [S5]
Global RankG5
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US Status
USACE-agcpOBL link
USACE-empOBL link
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B.A. SorriePond on N side NC 84, Wesley Chapel. 20 July 2010. UnionPhoto_natural
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