Lachnanthes is a monotypic genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Haemodoraceae (the bloodwort family), placed in the order Commelinales. It contains a single species, Lachnanthes caroliana (also spelled caroliniana), commonly known as Carolina redroot or bloodroot.
The plant is native to eastern North America, ranging from southeastern Nova Scotia (notably the Molega Lake area) and Massachusetts in the north, south through the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain to Florida and Cuba, and west along the Gulf of Mexico coast to Louisiana. An additional occurrence has been reported from an island off the coast of Honduras in the western Caribbean.
Lachnanthes grows in wet, acidic, usually sandy soils, and is consequently associated with a variety of wetland habitats: bogs, pinelands, pocosins, and hammocks. Its distinctive red roots and rhizomes give rise to both of its common names. The flowers are composed of six pale yellow tepals and appear from mid to late summer. In agricultural settings, the plant can become a significant weed in commercial cranberry bogs.
The generic name is a conserved name under the International Code of Nomenclature. An earlier homonym, Heritiera J.F. Gmelin (1791), was rendered illegitimate because Heritiera Aiton (1789) had already been applied to an unrelated tropical tree. The conservation decree allows Stephen Elliott's 1816 name Lachnanthes to stand and be used for this genus.
Etymology
The common names "Carolina redroot" and "bloodroot" both refer to the plant's characteristically red roots and rhizomes. The genus name Lachnanthes was coined by Stephen Elliott in 1816 and is a conserved name in botany, protected by exemption from the usual priority rules that would otherwise require the use of an earlier, illegitimate name.
Distribution
Lachnanthes caroliana is native to eastern North America, from southeastern Nova Scotia and Massachusetts south through the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain to Florida and Cuba, and west to Louisiana. A disjunct population has also been reported from an island off the coast of Honduras.
Ecology
The genus is strictly associated with wet, acidic, usually sandy substrates, occurring in bogs, pocosins, pinelands, and hammocks. In commercial cranberry bogs it can emerge as a notable weed, growing alongside the crop in the same acidic, waterlogged conditions.
Taxonomy Notes
The generic name Lachnanthes is a conserved name. The priority sequence involves three names: Heritiera Aiton (1789), applied to a tropical tree; Heritiera J.F. Gmelin (1791), applied to this plant but rendered an illegitimate homonym of Aiton's name; and Lachnanthes S. Elliott (1816), which was granted conservation status allowing it to replace the illegitimate Gmelin name. The genus belongs to the family Haemodoraceae, order Commelinales.
