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Spigelia marilandica
Also called Indian Pink, Indianpink, Woodland Pink, Wormgrass, Pinkroot, Spigelia, Worm Grass
Spigelia marilandica, the woodland pinkroot or Indian pink is a herbacious perennial wildflower in the Loganiaceae family native to inland areas of the Southeastern and Midwestern United States.
It flowers in late spring and early summer and tends to be found in low moist woods, ravines, or stream banks in partial or full shade. The flowers are red, erect, tubes with a star-shaped yellow center at the tip. It will grow 30–61 cm (1–2 ft) high with a spread of 15–46 cm (0.5–1.5 ft).
Native to inland areas of the Southeastern and Midwestern United States. Spigelia marilandica is not known to occur in Maryland. Most typically found in moist to dry woodlands and forests, usually on circumneutral soils. Found in South Carolina, southwestern North Carolina, Tennessee and Illinois, Oklahoma, south to Panhandle Florida and Texas; some floras allege its occurrence north to Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, Alabama. Spigelia marilandica grows in USDA zones 5b-9.
It is used as an ornamental plant, more popular in the UK and Europe than its native U.S. It is used to treat hypertension and heart disease. Commercial availability in the plant trade is limited in the U.S., nursery propagation is primarily vegetative. Spigelia marilandica has medicinal uses, dried roots are used as an anthelmintic (dewormer), and are followed by a saline aperient to avoid unpleasant side effects and ensure that the toxic root is expelled along with the worms.
West Indian pinkroot · Spigelia elbakyanii · Purpleflower pinkroot · Spigelia genuflexa · Spigelia longiflora · Pinkroot
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Spigelia marilandica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
