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Stillingia sylvatica

Garden ex L.

Queen's Delight

G5Secure Found in 4 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.158849
Element CodePDEUP1B050
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVascular Plant
KingdomPlantae
PhylumAnthophyta
ClassDicotyledoneae
OrderEuphorbiales
FamilyEuphorbiaceae
GenusStillingia
Other Common Names
queen's-delight (EN)
Concept Reference
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Conservation Status
Review Date2001-01-25
Change Date1999-06-01
Edition Date2001-01-25
Edition AuthorsKelly McConnell
Range Extent20,000-2,500,000 square km (about 8000-1,000,000 square miles)
Rank Reasons
Stillingia sylvatica has a fairly large range from Colorado south to Texas and east to Virginia and Florida. This species is common in parts of its range such as the Carolinas and Florida. Subspecies Stillingia sylvatica ssp. sylvatica is widespread, and subspecies Stillingia sylvatic ssp. tenuis is endemic to southern Florida. Roots of this species are collected from the wild for medicinal use and are commercially available. Currently, use of this herb is relatively small, but demand is reportedly increasing and it has historically been widely popular.
Range Extent Comments
Stillingia sylvatica occurs from Colorado to Texas east to Virginia and south through Florida. Subspecies Stillingia sylvatica ssp. sylvatica is widewpread, and subspecies Stillingia sylvatic ssp. tenuis is endemic to southern Florida.
Threat Impact Comments
This species has historically been collected from the wild and used for medicinal purposes. Some experts in the medicinal plant industry have suggested that trade is medium to large and demand has increased over the past ten years (Robbins 1999). According to Michael McGuffin, president of the American Herbal Products Association, use of this herb is marginal (pers. comm., January 2001); however it is commercially available and information about efficacy and use is widely available. Sources of commercial products should be monitored to determine whether potential increased demand would affect wild populations.
Ecology & Habitat

Diagnostic Characteristics

Stillingia sylvatica may be characterized by plants with several stems arising from the crown; seeds lacking a conspicuous hilum scar (Wunderlin, 1982).

Habitat

Found in dry forests and sandhills on the coastal plains of the eastern U.S (Weakley 2000 Draft). In Texas, this species grows in sandy prairies and open woods (Diggs et al. 1999) and in Colorado it occurs on sand dunes (Weber and Whitman 1996).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest/WoodlandForest - Conifer
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
New MexicoSNRYes
MississippiSNRYes
ArkansasS4Yes
FloridaS5Yes
VirginiaS1Yes
KentuckySHYes
North CarolinaS4Yes
TennesseeSNRYes
AlabamaSNRYes
South CarolinaS4Yes
TexasSNRYes
LouisianaSNRYes
GeorgiaSNRYes
OklahomaSNRYes
KansasSNRYes
ColoradoS1Yes
Plant Characteristics
DurationPERENNIAL, FLOWERING YEAR-ROUND
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (4)
Florida (2)
AreaForestAcres
Alexander Springs CreekOcala National Forest2,954
SavannahApalachicola National Forest1,927
Louisiana (1)
AreaForestAcres
Saline Bayou W & S River CorridorKisatchie National Forest5,355
Texas (1)
AreaForestAcres
Little Lake CreekNational Forests in Texas596
References (11)
  1. Diggs, G.M., Jr., B.L. Lipscomb, and R.J. O'Kennon. 1999. Shinners and Mahler's Illustrated flora of north central Texas. Sida Botanical Miscellany No. 16. Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Ft. Worth. 1626 pp.
  2. Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
  3. Kartesz, J.T. 1999. A synonymized checklist and atlas with biological attributes for the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. First edition. In: Kartesz, J.T., and C.A. Meacham. Synthesis of the North American Flora, Version 1.0. North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, N.C.
  4. Long, R.W., and O. Lakela. 1971. A flora of tropical Florida. Univ. Miami Press, Coral Gables, Florida. 962 pp.
  5. McGuffin, Michael. Personal communication. American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring MD
  6. Robbins, C. 1999. Medicine from US wildlands: An assessment of native plant species harvested in the United States for medicinal use and trade and evaluation of the conservation and management implications. Traffic North America. Prepared for The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA. Available at http://www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal/.
  7. Small, J.K. 1933. Manual of the southeastern flora. Two volumes. Hafner Publishing Company, New York.
  8. Weakley, A.S. 2000. Flora of the Carolinas and Virginia: working draft of May 15, 2000. Unpublished draft, The Nature Conservancy, Southern Resource Office.
  9. Weber, W.A., and R.C. Wittmann. 1996a. Colorado flora: Eastern slope. Revised edition. Univ. Press of Colorado, Niwot, Colorado. 524 pp.
  10. Wunderlin, R.P. 1982. Guide to the vascular plants of central Florida. Univ. Presses Florida, Gainesville. 472 pp.
  11. Wunderlin, R.P. and B.F. Hansen. 2000. Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants. S.M. Landry and K.N. Campbell (applications development) Florida Center for Community Design and Research. Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa. Online: http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu/. (Accessed January 2001).