Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica)

May 4th – 12th. We spotted Indian Pinks first on a rural road in Hancock County and then the following day in the Clarks Hill Wildlife Management Area in McDuffie County. The following weekend we found them again in the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge in Jones County. I had seen photographs of this wildflower but had never encountered it in person.

It’s just a fleeting glimpse of red that grabs your attention.

A single stem with opposite leaves and a cluster of flowers at the top.

The arrangement of the flowers from the side, and…

from the top.

The showiest plants were in the Piedmont NWR near Allison Creek.

This plant had branched to produce two flower heads, from the side, and…

*****

from the top.

A close view of the flower.

It will be interesting to try and follow a couple of plants. According to ‘Name that plant,’ the plant produces ‘irregularly angled’ black seeds with that are catapulted before the seed capsules appear fully ripe.’

Spigelia marilandica (Indian Pink, Woodland Pinkroot, Wormgrass) is native of the United States where it’s found in states southeast of a line from Maryland to Indiana and Illinois and southwest to Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. In Georgia, it’s found in many counties throughout the state but more frequently in north Georgia and in southern counties.
Click on an image to view a larger image

Identification resources:
- Southeastern Flora: Spigelia marilandica (Indian Pink)
- Name that Plant: Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia
: Spigelia marilandica (Indian Pink, Woodland Pinkroot, Wormgrass)
- Missouri Plants: Spigelia marilandica

Distribution:
- United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Spigelia marilandica (Woodland Pinkroot)
- University of North Carolina Herbarium: Spigelia marilandica