Golden Alexanders is a carefree plant found in small colonies on wet soils but is also tolerant of dry summer conditions. It thrives in full to partial sun, but also grows in light shade under trees. Habitats include: moist black soil prairies, openings in moist to mesic woodlands, savannas, thickets, limestone glades and bluffs, power line clearings in woodland areas, and abandoned fields. This plant was selected as the 2012 NC Wildflower of the Year , a program managed by the North Carolina Botanical Garden with some financial support from the Garden Club of North Carolina. It is a larval host plant for the Black Swallowtail butterfly.
Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox ↗Reconciled to full toolbox: matched by slug to slug 'zizia-aurea'. Identity (id/common/scientific name) preserved from the original 87-plant Hunnicutt set; attribute data refreshed from the 56-attribute toolbox scrape.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Clay; High Organic Matter; Loam (Silt)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist | Occasionally Dry | Occasionally Wet
Available space
12 inches-3 feet
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 1 ft. 0 in. - 2 ft. 0 in. | Width: 1 ft. 0 in. - 2 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Rapid
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (1-3 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Clumping; Erect
Texture
Medium
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green; Purple/Lavender
Leaf type
Compound (Pinnately , Bipinnately, Palmately)
Leaf shape
Lanceolate; Ovate
Leaf margin
Serrate
Leaf feel
Smooth
Leaf size
1-3 inches long
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Leaves with finely serrated margins are lanceolate or ovate and up to 8 cm X 5 cm. Larger leaves usually have 1 or 2 sharp lobes. Lower leaves are twice or three times compound with long petioles, while the upper leaves are once compound with short petioles. The leaves slowly turn light purple in the autumn.
Flower color
Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Good Cut; Showy
Flower form
Umbel
Flower size
1-3 inches
Flower detail
The flower is less than .3 centimeters long. Each flower has 5 each of sepals, petals and stamens. Individual flowers are clustered into 8 cm long flat-topped flower heads, the middle flower of each compound umbel is stalkless. Flowers give way to 3 – 4 millimeter long, oblong, green fruit capsules slowly turn light purple in the autumn. Blooms from April to May.
Bloom time
Spring; Summer
Fruit color
Green; Purple/Lavender
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit size
< 1 inch long, < 1 inch wide
Fruit detail
Flowers give way to 3 – 4 millimeter long, oblong, green fruit capsules slowly turn light purple in the autumn. Displays from June to July.