The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with about 4,250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it the 14th most species-rich family of flowering plants. The many well known and economically important members of the Ericaceae include the cranberry, blueberry, huckleberry, rhododendron, and various common heaths and heathers.
Rhododendron is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants and in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan region, but smaller numbers occur elsewhere in Asia, and in North America, Europe and Australia.
Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus Rhododendron, particularly the former sections Tsutsusi (evergreen) and Pentanthera (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks. Shade tolerant, they prefer living near or under trees. They are part of the family Ericaceae.
Bidens is a genus of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae. The genus include roughly 230 species which are distributed worldwide. Despite their global distribution, the systematics and taxonomy of the genus has been described as complicated and unorganized. The common names beggarticks, black jack, burr marigolds, cobbler's pegs, Spanish needles, stickseeds, tickseeds and tickseed sunflowers refer to the fruits of the plants, most of which are bristly and barbed. The generic name refers to the same character; Bidens comes from the Latin bis ("two") and dens ("tooth").
Kalmia is a genus of about ten species of evergreen shrubs from 0.2–5 m tall, in the family Ericaceae (heath). They are native to North America and Cuba. They grow in acidic soils, with different species in wet acid bog habitats and dry, sandy soils.
Digitaria is a genus of plants in the grass family native to tropical and warm temperate regions but can occur in tropical, subtropical, and cooler temperate regions as well. Common names include crabgrass, finger-grass, and fonio. They are slender monocotyledonous annual and perennial lawn, pasture, and forage plants; some are often considered lawn pests. Digitus is the Latin word for "finger", and they are distinguished by the long, finger-like inflorescences they produce.
Sideroxylon is a genus of trees in the family Sapotaceae described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753. They are collectively known as bully trees. The generic name is derived from the Greek words σιδηρος (sideros), meaning "iron", and ξύλον (xylon), meaning "wood."
Gratiola is a genus of plants in the family Plantaginaceae. Most species are known generally as hedgehyssops. It includes 29 species native to temperate North America and Eurasia, and to Morocco, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. The genus was previously included in the family Scrophulariaceae.
In the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States, balds are mountain summits or crests covered primarily by thick vegetation of native grasses or shrubs occurring in areas where heavy forest growth would be expected.
Pycnanthemum is a genus of herbaceous plants in the mint family (Lamiaceae). Species in this genus are often referred to as "mountain mints" and they often have a minty or thyme-like aroma when crushed. All species of Pycnanthemum are native to the United States and Canada. The center of diversity for the genus is North Carolina with 13 of the 20 species having been collected therein. Nineteen of the 20 species of Pycnanthemum occur in the Eastern US and Canada, and one disjunct species occurs in California and Oregon.
Rhododendron menziesii, also classified as Menziesia ferruginea, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, known by several common names, including rusty menziesia, false huckleberry, fool's huckleberry and mock azalea.
Geum radiatum is a rare species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names spreading avens, Appalachian avens, and cliff avens. It is native to the region of the border between Tennessee and North Carolina in the southeastern United States, where there are eleven known populations remaining. The plant was federally listed as an endangered species in 1990.
Rubus canadensis is a North American species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names smooth blackberry, Canadian blackberry, thornless blackberry and smooth highbush blackberry. It is native to central and eastern Canada and the eastern United States. It has also been sparingly recorded in Great Britain, in which it is often confused for the many other native blackberry species.
Parnassia caroliniana is a species of flowering plant in the Celastraceae known by the common name Carolina grass of Parnassus. It is native to the southeastern United States, where it occurs in North Carolina and South Carolina, with an isolated population in the Florida Panhandle.
The Paradisus Londonensis is a book dated 1805–1808, printed by D.N. Shury, and published by William Hooker. It consists of coloured illustrations of 117 plants drawn by William Hooker, with explanatory text by Richard Anthony Salisbury.
Kathleen Anne Kron is a retired biology professor from Wake Forest University. She is known for her research on Ericaceae, a family of flowering plants.
Rhododendron sect. Sciadorhodion is a subsection of subgenus Azaleastrum in the genus Rhododendron. It comprises 16 species of deciduous shrubss native to East Asia and North America.
