North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Parthenium integrifolium

Parthenium integrifolium L.

wild quinine

Image ID: 29853
Image by: Oglesby, Emily
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: PAIN3
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Parthenium integrifolium
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2019-02-12

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: PARTH2
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Parthenium
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Feverfew
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 16 species, herbs and shrubs, of North America and the West Indies. Mears (1975) does not seem to me to be a fully satisfactory explanation of the variation within the genus. Morphologically and ecologically, P. auriculatum seems worthy of specific status, and I have not followed Mearss reduction of it to varietal status. P. integrifolium var. henryanum, var. mabryanum, and var. integrifolium serve to describe real patterns of variation, but are disturbingly confluent morphologically, ecologically, and geographically.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Mears (1975)=Z; Cronquist (1980)=SE; Strother in FNA (2006c).

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 of dryish, open and sparsely wooded habitats, such as open forests and woodlands, barrens and clearings.
STEMS: Stems 1-several from a crown, simple or branched above, smooth or hairy.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, petiolate, lance-elliptic, to 10 in. long (reduced and becoming sessile upward), toothed and sometimes slightly lobed basally, rough-hairy.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Composite flowers (heads) in a flat-topped, branched, terminal cluster; heads about 1/3 in. wide, consisting of 5-6 very short-petaled, white ray florets encircling a center disk of many tiny, whitish-cream, tubular florets.
FRUITS:
COMMENTS: Two varieties are recognized, with the typical variety having wider leaves (to about 3 in.) that are never lobed, and var. mabryanum having narrower leaves (to about 1 1/2 in.), which are often undulately lobed, and blooming later into the fall.
HEIGHT: 1-3 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Mixed
BLOOM TIME: May-Oct

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

BLOOM COLOR: White

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

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Dry forests, Woods margins
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Wild quinine is not often offered for sale, though it is easily grown. This Southeastern native perennial produces upright corymbs of milky white flowers that are a good nectar source for butterflies. Its foliage provides a handsome, rugged contrast to the white flowers. It is tolerant of drought once established. Wild quinine is found growing in open woods and sunny meadows. This species has been used by the Catawba tribe to treat fevers and burns. The genus Parthenium supports up to 15 species of lepidoptera.

Bloom Table Text: A native perennial that is equally at home on the prairie or in a cultivated display garden, Wild Quinine shines with bright white flowers from late spring through mid-summer. It prefers full sun but still grows well in part shade and can tolerate soils between moist and slightly dry. The flowers attract Halictine bees, wasps, flies, beetles, and plant bugs. The beetles usually feed on pollen, while the other insects seek nectar primarily. Mammalian herbivores appear to ignore this plant as a food source because the attractive large basal leaves are sandpapery in texture and bitter-tasting.

NCBG Location: Education Center Landscape, Piedmont Habitat

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Well-drained
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 4
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
274	2011-0130	2011-06-16	279	View
312	2011-0179	2011-07-12	317	View
4400	1992-0556			View
5272	1995-0392			View
6221	1995-1353			View
8074	2004-0082	2004-09-09		View
9085	2004-0230	2006-05-19	1157	View
9228	2014-0013	2020-05-07	0	View
9375	2021-0038	2021-04-05	2447	View
9450	2021-0109	2021-07-13	0	View

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
279	HORT	2009-01-01	NCBG staff	View
317	HORT	2004-10-11	Liloia	View
1125	HORT	2005-11-01	Bryan	View
1157	HORT	2003-11-06	Bryan	View
2447	HORT		Parkins	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
662	274	21	NCBG staff	2011-04-08	View
726	312	19	NCBG staff	2011-05-12	View
727	312	43	Steen	2011-11-02	View
6728	4400	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
7727	5272	203	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
8876	6221	2	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
11346	8074	142	NCBG staff	2003-04-14	View
11478	9085	81	NCBG staff	2004-09-23	View
11479	9085	115	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
12332	9228	18	Liloia	2014-08-26	View
12602	9375	234	Wait	2020-06-25	View
12603	9375	235	Wait	2020-06-25	View
12843	9450	21	Liloia	0000-00-00	View
13198	9375	38	Wait	2021-11-23	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: PAIN3
USDA Common Name: Wild Quinine
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, CT, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WI, WV)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

WEAKLEY FLORA

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

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)
Parthenium L. (Feverfew)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 16 species, herbs and shrubs, of North America and the West Indies. Mears (1975) does not seem to me to be a fully satisfactory explanation of the variation within the genus. Morphologically and ecologically, P. auriculatum seems worthy of specific status, and I have not followed Mearss reduction of it to varietal status. P. integrifolium var. henryanum, var. mabryanum, and var. integrifolium serve to describe real patterns of variation, but are disturbingly confluent morphologically, ecologically, and geographically.
REFERENCE: Mears (1975)=Z; Cronquist (1980)=SE; Strother in FNA (2006c).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

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

WEB RESOURCES

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

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 29853 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 8419 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 8420 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)