North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Arnica acaulis

Arnica acaulis (Walter) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.

leopard’s-bane, common leopardbane, southeastern arnica

Synonym(s): Doronicum acaule

Image ID: 19451
Image by: Stuart, Will
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: ARAC3
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Arnica acaulis
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2019-02-05

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: ARNIC
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Arnica
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Arnica
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 29-32 species, perennial herbs, north temperate, boreal, and arctic.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Wolf in FNA (2006c); Cronquist (1980)=SE.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: ASTERA
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Asteraceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Dumortier 1822 or COMPOSITAE Giseke 1792
FAMILY COMMON: Aster Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 1500-1700 genera and 20,000-25,000 species, shrubs, herbs, trees, and vines, cosmopolitan in distribution.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Cronquist (1980)=SE throughout family treatment.

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect perennial from a rosette, found in pine savannas, sandhills, clayey or sandy woodlands, powerline rights-of-way and on road banks.
STEMS: Stem arising from basal rosette, with a few branches especially in inflorescence, densely glandular-hairy.
LEAVES: Basal leaves broadly elliptic to oval, 1 1/2-4 in. long, with 5-7 parallel veins prominent beneath, thick, densely furry above and less so beneath; a few smaller, opposite, ascending leaves occur on the stem.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Composite flowers (heads) 2-30 at ends of branches; heads yellow, 1-2 in. wide, consisting of 10-15 ray florets with toothed tips encircling a central disk of tubular florets; a single series of hairy, green narrow, pointed bracts surround the base of each head.
FRUITS:
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 1-3 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Opposite
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Mixed
BLOOM TIME: Late Mar-Jun

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
		x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Yellow

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
				x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Disturbed, Dry forests, Pine savannas
NATIVE RANGE: eastern & central North America

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Common leopardbane is one of the first in the procession of yellow composites that grace piedmont roadsides from spring to fall. This one is a standout in that it blooms when many other sun loving perennials are still getting warmed up. Each sturdy stem features showy gold flowers and little to no foliage. The fuzzy leaves can be found in a rosette at the base of the plant. This is a great choice for garden spaces in need of season color.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average, Well-drained
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE: 1
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
234	HORT	2009-05-23	Walker	View
1993	NPMD	2020-05-27	Kunz	View
1994	NPMD	2020-05-27	Kunz	View
2445	HORT	2013-05-21	Summer	View
2605	NPMD	2022-05-16	Marzolf	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
235	2011-0063	2011-04-05	234	View
3875	1992-0018			View
4390	1992-0546			View
9322	2015-0023	2015-11-02	2445	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
511	235	31	NCBG staff	2011-03-29	View
512	235	19	NCBG staff	2011-04-29	View
513	235	44	NCBG staff	2011-05-10	View
514	235	31	Wenck	2011-11-01	View
6187	3875	98	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
6718	4390	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
13127	0	14	Liloia	0000-00-00	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: ARAC3
USDA Common Name: Common Leopardbane
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, DC, DE, FL, GA, MD, NC, NJ, PA, SC, VA)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	UPL				FACU

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Arnica acaulis
COMMON NAME: Leopard's-bane, Southeastern Arnica
SYNONYMY: [= C, F, FNA, G, GW, K, Pa, RAB, S, SE, Va, WH3; = Doronicum acaule Walter]
PHENOLOGY: Late Mar-Jun.
HABITAT: Pine savannas, sandhills, clayey or sandy woodlands, powerline rights-of-way, roadbanks.
COMMENTS: DE (historical) and se. PA (where on serpentine) south to Panhandle FL, on the Coastal Plain and lower Piedmont.
RANGE MAP: Arnica acaulis.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Asteraceae Dumortier 1822 or COMPOSITAE Giseke 1792 (Aster Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 1500-1700 genera and 20,000-25,000 species, shrubs, herbs, trees, and vines, cosmopolitan in distribution.
REFERENCE: Cronquist (1980)=SE throughout family treatment.

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Arnica L. (Arnica)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 29-32 species, perennial herbs, north temperate, boreal, and arctic.
REFERENCE: Wolf in FNA (2006c); Cronquist (1980)=SE.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Arnica acaulis in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Arnica acaulis in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Arnica acaulis in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Arnica acaulis in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Arnica acaulis in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Arnica acaulis

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 19451 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 10199 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 19451 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 19451 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)