North Carolina Wildflowers, Shrubs, & Trees

by Jeffrey S. Pippen | Back to Jeff's Plant Page | Jeff's Nature Pages

Rosaceae > Aruncus (goats beard, brides feathers)
	Goats Beard, Brides Feathers (Aruncus dioicus) Jackson Co., NC 14 May 2006 Common in the western half of NC in & around rich forests. Vegetatively resembling the genus Astilbe, Aruncus can be distinguished by its usually unlobed terminal leaflets and lack of glandular hairs. This is the host plant for the Dusky Azure, a rare butterfly of the south-central Appalachians.

Annotated habitat and distribution information listed above is from Radford, Ahles, & Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. UNC Press; Alan Weakley's Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia; and from personal observations and discussions with Will Cook, Harry LeGrand, and Bob Wilbur. Supplemental resources include USDA plants website, and NatureServe.