Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Section: Common Name: Scientific Name: Family:
Account for Kidneyleaf Rosinweed - Silphium reniforme   Rafinesque ex Nuttall
Members of Asteraceae:
Members of Silphium with account distribution info or public map:
Google Images
Section 6 » Family Asteraceae
Show/Hide Synonym
AuthorRafinesque ex Nuttall
DistributionSouthwestern Piedmont and southern Mountains, ranging east to the central Piedmont.

VA and WV south to central GA and eastern AL.
AbundanceUncommon to infrequent over the range, most numerous in the South Mountains and in the Hickorynut Gorge region -- from Burke County southwest to eastern Henderson County.
HabitatDry woodlands and forests, openings and edges of the same, and rocky slopes.
PhenologyFlowering and fruiting June-September.
IdentificationThe Silphium compositum complex consists of 3 varieties plus S. reniforme, according to Weakley (2018). The growth form of all is very distinctive: a basal rosette of very large (a foot long and 8 inches to a foot wide), stalked, basal leaves that lie on the ground, with a single stem 5-7 feet tall and a widely-branched, open inflorescence of relatively small sunflower-like heads. As in other rosinweeds, the heads are yellow and the involucral bracts are thick-textured and rounded. S. reniforme differs in having unlobed leaves, or with a single lobe on each side. Its leaves are quite wrinkled or wavy-edged, even if not lobed; but the plant should be easily separated from the strongly leaf-lobed S. compositum.
Taxonomic CommentsSome authors, such as FNA, lump Kidneyleaf Rosinweed into S. compositum, though usually as S. compositum var. reniforme.

Other Common Name(s)Ragged Rosinweed
State RankS3
Global RankG5T3T5 [G3G5]
State Status
US Status
USACE-agcp
USACE-emp
County Map - click on a county to view source of record.
Select a source
AllHerbaria
Individual
Select an occurrence type
AllCollection_naturalSight_natural