Downy False Foxglove

(Aureolaria virginica)

 

   

 

 

Color Photograph: Copyright Nearctica.com, Inc.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Downy False Foxglove (Aureolaria virginica [L.] Pennell)

Identification: Flowers large, yellow, bell-shaped, with 5 large petal lobes. Stems and leaves fuzzy. Leaves in opposite pairs, elongate, with deep lobes, vaguely oak-like. Petioles long and tapering. Plant 3 to 6 feet in height.

Distribution: Minnesota in the west to New England in the east, southward to Florida and Texas.

Habitat: Downy False Foxglove is usually found in dry oak woods.

Flowering period: July to September.

Similar Species: Smooth False Foxglove has its leaves less highly lobed and shorter petioles. The stem is smooth, not downy. Fern-leaved False Foxglove has highly divided, fernlike leaves. Yellow False Foxflove (Aureolaria flava) (not treated here) has highly lobed leaves as in Downy False Foxglove, but a smooth, purple stem.

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