Carolina primrose-willow

Jussiaea bonariensis Micheli, Flora 57: 303. 1874; J. neglecta Small; J. suffruticosa Linnaeus var. bonariensis (Micheli) H. Léveillé

Herbs, from woody rootstock. Stems erect, subterete, 20–120 cm, branched, glabrate proxi­mally, or strigillose, especially in distal parts, with raised strigillose lines decurrent from leaf axils mid stem. Leaves: stipules narrowly deltate, 0.3–0.5 × 0.1–0.2 mm; petiole winged, 0.1–0.7 cm; blade narrowly to broadly lanceolate, 4–15 × 0.3–1(–3) cm, base tapered, margins subentire to inconspicuously glandular-serrulate, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces finely strigillose, especially on abaxial veins, sometimes glabrate; bracts narrower, reduced in size. Inflores­cences open, leafy racemes, flowers solitary in axils; bracteoles lanceolate-linear or setaceous, 2–6 × 0.3–0.8 mm, attached on pedicel just proximal to base of ovary. Flowers: sepals ovate-deltate, 10–20 × 7–12 mm, ab­ruptly acuminate or acute, inconspicuously 5–7-nerved, surfaces strigillose; petals deep golden yellow, broadly obovate, 20–35 × 10–30 mm, apex shallowly emar­ginate, claw 1.5–3 mm; stamens 8 in 2 unequal series, fila­ments flattened and dilated near base, epipetalous set 3.4–4.5 mm, episepalous set 4.5–5.5 mm, anthers oblong, 4–5 mm; pollen shed in polyads; ovary subcylindric, slightly 4-angled, 8–12(–20) mm; nectary disc slightly elevated on ovary apex, 2–3 mm diam., 4-lobed, ringed by short hairs; style 3–3.5 mm, stigma clavate-capitate, 2.5–3 × 2–2.5 mm, often exserted beyond anthers. Capsules clavate-cylindric, subterete to obtusely 4-angled, 20–35 × 3.5–5 mm, thin walls, irregularly dehiscent, tapering to pedicel 10–40 mm. Seeds in several indistinct rows per locule, yellow-brown, oblong (appearing round), 0.5 mm, shiny, raphe 2/3 as wide as body. 2n = 16.

Flowering summer. Wet places, mainly along coastal areas, especially ditches, banks near brackish water; 0–200[–2600] m; Ala., Fla., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tex.; Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango, Puebla, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz); South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay).