North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Amsonia tabernaemontana

Amsonia tabernaemontana Walter

eastern bluestar, eastern bluestar

Amsonia tabernaemontana (Eastern Bluestar)

Image ID: 19277
Image by: Stuart, Will
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: AMTA2
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Amsonia tabernaemontana
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-09-25

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: AMSON
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Amsonia
GENUS AUTHORITY: Walter
GENUS COMMON: Bluestar
GENUS SUMMARY: [by Bruce A. Sorrie and Alan. S. Weakley]
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Woodson (1928)=Z.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: APOCYN
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Apocynaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Dogbane Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: As here circumscribed including the Asclepiadaceae, a family of about 480 genera and about 4800 species, lianas, shrubs, herbs, and trees, widespread in tropical and temperate areas. There appears to be overwhelming evidence favoring the combination of the Asclepiadaceae into the Apocynaceae; see, for instance, Rosatti (1989), Sennblad & Bremer (1996), and many others.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Rosatti (1989); Liede (1997a).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Slender, erect perennial found in floodplain forests and moist, rich slope forests.
STEMS: Stems one to several from a single root crown, unbranched, smooth.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, occurring all the way up the stem, short-petiolate, narrowly oval to lance-shaped, 2.5-5 in. long, smooth.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers in a terminal, pyramidal panicle; powder-blue, 3/4 in. wide, star-shaped, consisting of a ¼-in.-long tube topped with white hairs that splits into 5 spreading, narrow, blunt-tipped corolla lobes and a short calyx with triangular lobes.
FRUITS: Fruit a pair of erect, green, slender follicles.
COMMENTS: Leaves turn golden-yellow in fall.
HEIGHT: 1-3 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: April-May

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

BLOOM COLOR: Blue

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

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bottomlands, Moist forests
NATIVE RANGE: central & eastern U.S.

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: This handsome, long-lived southeastern native perennial produces panicles of small, star-shaped blue flowers in late spring. Though only in bloom for a few weeks, Eastern bluestar develops an attractive shrubby appearance. In the wild, it is typically seen growing on rich, wooded slopes and in bottomlands. It is also perfectly happy when planted in average garden soil in full to part sun.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 3
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE: 3 then 2
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
105	2012-0078	2012-11-13	106	View
166	2007-0408	2019-07-02	167	View
2484	1986-2338			View
2554	1986-2444			View
3179	1990-0016			View
6820	1998-0025			View
6838	1998-0044			View
7073	1999-0021	1999-05-05		View
8065	2004-0073	2004-09-09		View
9129	2006-0321	2006-10-18	1304	View

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
106	HORT	2010-09-01	Poythress	View
167	HORT		Tomberlin	View
1304	HORT	2000-09-27	Bryan	View
1417	HORT	2006-10-01	Liloia	View
1779	HORT	2005-01-01	Bryan	View
1780	HORT	2005-01-01	Bryan	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
173	105	19	Liloia	2012-08-16	View
174	105	18	Liloia	2012-08-16	View
176	105	17	Liloia	2012-11-09	View
177	105	12	Liloia	2012-11-09	View
178	105	15	Liloia	2012-11-09	View
179	105	40	Mixon	2012-10-01	View
180	105	31	Mixon	2012-10-01	View
181	105	32	Mixon	2012-10-01	View
332	166	9	Tomberlin	2006-11-15	View
4221	2484	27	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
4222	2484	143	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
4325	2554	80	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
4326	2554	189	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
4327	2554	77	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
5329	3179	94	NCBG staff	1989-11-01	View
9650	6820	166	NCBG staff	1997-04-15	View
9651	6820	1	NCBG staff	1998-01-01	View
9652	6820	1	NCBG staff	1998-01-01	View
9700	6838	160	NCBG staff	1998-02-27	View
9993	7073	77	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
9994	7073	165	NCBG staff	1999-04-26	View
9995	7073	177	NCBG staff	1999-04-26	View
9996	7073	71	NCBG staff	1999-05-01	View
9997	7073	137	NCBG staff	1999-05-01	View
11334	8065	142	Liloia	2003-11-05	View
11895	9129	142	NCBG staff	2006-10-16	View
12179	105	16	Liloia	2013-11-25	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: AMTA2
USDA Common Name: Eastern Bluestar
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FACW				FAC	FACW		FACW	FACW

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:
COMMON NAME:
SYNONYMY:
PHENOLOGY:
HABITAT:
COMMENTS:
RANGE MAP:

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Apocynaceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Dogbane Family)
SUMMARY: As here circumscribed including the Asclepiadaceae, a family of about 480 genera and about 4800 species, lianas, shrubs, herbs, and trees, widespread in tropical and temperate areas. There appears to be overwhelming evidence favoring the combination of the Asclepiadaceae into the Apocynaceae; see, for instance, Rosatti (1989), Sennblad & Bremer (1996), and many others.
REFERENCE: Rosatti (1989); Liede (1997a).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Amsonia Walter (Bluestar)
SUMMARY: [by Bruce A. Sorrie and Alan. S. Weakley]
REFERENCE: Woodson (1928)=Z.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

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

WEB RESOURCES

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

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 19277 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 8711 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 8711 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)