| Author | Walter | |
| Distribution | Essentially throughout the Coastal Plain; ranges into the southeastern portion of the Piedmont, west to Rowan and Union counties.
This is a Southern species, ranging north to eastern MD and KS, and south to northern FL and central TX. However, it is absent in the Mountain regions.
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| Abundance | Fairly common to frequent (but very easily overlooked) in the northern half of the Coastal Plain, south to Carteret County; infrequent to fairly common in the southern half. Uncommon in the southeastern Piedmont. | |
| Habitat | This species primarily grows in fairly rich alluvial soil, especially openings in swamps and bottomlands, such as along margins of roads through such wetlands. It also grows in fresh marshes, and less so in ditches. | |
| Phenology | Blooms from June to September, and fruits shortly after flowering. | |
| Identification | Because this species has no petals, and the sepals are not colored pale yellow, most biologists would walk right past this species without noticing it, or simply call it as the very common L. alternifolia. This is, however, not a small species, as it has several ascending branches, growing to about 2-3 feet tall, with a smooth stem. The alternate leaves are rather "ordinary", being lanceolate to elliptical, about 3-4 inches long and 2/3-inch wide, entire, and tapering at both ends, to a petiole about 1/2-inch long. This species has the flowers in many leaf axils, sessile, with a lack of petals. The 4 sepals are short and triangular-ovate, barely 1/10-inch long, but the base of the flower (and later the capsule) is distinctive -- cylindrical and 4-sided, about 1/3-inch long, about 3 times longer than wide. Other similar species either have yellow petals, or the capsules are usually shorter, about as long as wide. Sadly, there are very few online photos (google "cylindric fruit seedbox"), but once you get a visual on what to look for, you may find it routinely in some openings in swamps and bottomlands in the eastern part of the state. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | According to FNA (2021), our plants are var. glandulosa.
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| Other Common Name(s) | Smallflower Seedbox, Cylindric-fruit Primrose-willow | |
| State Rank | S4 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | OBL link |
| USACE-emp | OBL link |
