North Carolina Wildflowers, Shrubs, & Trees

by Jeffrey S. Pippen | Back to Jeff's Plant Page | Jeff's Nature Pages


Symplocaceae > Symplocos (sweetleaf, horsesugar)

Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria) Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria)
Growing in longleaf pine flatwoods in Moore Co., NC
12 Apr 2008

Common in the NC mountains and coastal plain, but rare in the piedmont, Sweetleaf leaves are semi-evergreen and variably sweet to the taste.

Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria) Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria)
Growing in longleaf pine flatwoods in Moore Co., NC
12 Apr 2008

Sweetleaf blooms in the spring and sometimes attracts butterflies with its nectar.

Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria) Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria)
Gates Co., NC
13 Apr 2007
Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria) Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria)
Gates Co., NC
13 Apr 2007
Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria) Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria)
Growing in longleaf pine flatwoods in Moore Co., NC
12 Apr 2008

Sweetleaf is the caterpillar hostplant for the fairly rare and local King's Hairstreak.

Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria) Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria)
Gates Co., NC
13 Apr 2007
Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria) Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria)
Growing in longleaf pine flatwoods in Moore Co., NC
12 Apr 2008

Bark of a fairly young individual.

Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria) Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria)
Gates Co., NC
13 Apr 2007

Sweetleaf is a shrub to smallish tree. Older bark is distinctly longitudinally striped.

Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria) Sweetleaf, Horsesugar (Symplocos tinctoria)
Growing in longleaf pine flatwoods in Moore Co., NC
12 Apr 2008

This female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is nectaring on Sweetleaf.


Annotated habitat and distribution information listed above is from Radford, Ahles, & Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. UNC Press; Alan Weakley's Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia; and from personal observations and discussions with Will Cook, Harry LeGrand, and Bob Wilbur. Supplemental resources include USDA plants website, and NatureServe.


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Created on ... Apr 31, 2007 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com