Asarum canadense var. reflexum (E.P.Bicknell) B.L.Rob.
Heterotypic synonyms
Asarum ambiguum (E.P.Bicknell) Daniels
Asarum canadense var. ambiguum (E.P.Bicknell) Farw.
Asarum reflexum var. ambiguum E.P.Bicknell
Asarum reflexum, also known as reflexed wild ginger, is a species of flowering plant in the birthwort familyAristolochiaceae. It is native to eastern North America where it is found primarily in rich deciduous forests. Its name refers to the reflexed sepals of the plant's flower, an important distinguishing character.
Description
Asarum reflexum is a long-lived perennial, herbaceous plant that persists by means of an underground rhizome. The leaves are typically paired and basal (i.e., arising directly from the rhizome), each with a long petiole. The solitary flower is borne at ground level. The flower has three sepals that together form the calyx. The base of the calyx is fused to the flower head but the calyx lobes assume various positions depending on the flowering stage. Typically the lobes are strongly reflexed (i.e., bent back toward the base of the calyx), which is where the species gets its name.
Taxonomy
Asarum reflexum was first described by the American botanist Eugene Pintard Bicknell in 1897. Bicknell collected its type specimen in Van Cortlandt Park in New York City. The epithet reflexum, which means "bent back upon itself", refers to its "characteristically reflected calyx-lobes". This is the primary difference between it and Asarum canadense.
The American botanist Benjamin Lincoln Robinson reduced Asarum reflexumE.P.Bicknell to a variety in 1908 after failing to find a "constant distinction" between it and А.canadense. In the 8th edition of Gray's Manual initially published in 1950, the American botanist Merritt Lyndon Fernald accepted the name Asarum canadense var.reflexum(E.P.Bicknell) B.L.Rob. In 1997, the influential Flora of North America considered the latter to be a synonym of Аsarum canadenseL. A master's thesis published in 2025 found morphological and genome-wideSNP data that supports Asarum reflexum as a distinct species. As of August2026[update], there is growing acceptance of the name Asarum reflexumE.P.Bicknell.
Asarum reflexum is a spring-flowering species. In New York, for example, it typically flowers from the third week in April to the first week in May. When the flower finally falls, a new bud appears. By late summer that bud encloses fully-formed leaves and a flower that lies dormant under the leaf litter until the following spring.
Fernald, Merrit Lyndon (1970) [first published in 1950]. Rollins, R. C. (ed.). Gray's Manual of Botany (8thed.). D. Van Nostrand Company. ISBN0-442-22250-5.
