Tofieldia pusilla : False Asphodel

Scientific Name:

Kingdom: Plantae

Division:

• Tracheophyta (vascular)
• Spermatophyta (seed bearing)
Angiospermae (enclosed seed)

Class: Monocoteldonae (one seed-leaf)

Family: Liliaceae (Lily Family)

Genera: Tofieldia (False Asphodel) (Named for Thomas Tofield an English botanist)

Species: pusilla (Lat. pusillus = diminutive of pusio = boy = little boy)

English Name(s):

False Asphodel, Scottish Asphodel

First Nation Names:

Structure:

• Stems green, leafless save for perhaps one poorly developed leaf near base.

Leaves:

• Basal (from stem base), numerous, densely tufted, never longer than 10cm.

Reproductive Parts:

• Tepals (petals + sepals) 1.5-3mm long, yellow-white to white-greenish, persistent (long-lasting).
• Flowers are slightly honey-scented.
• Flowers in terminal raceme clusters, spherical to cylindrical.

Seed:

• Fruits are many-seeded capsules, with 3 cavities splitting open down the centre of each cavity.
• Seed capsules green to straw-coloured, 1.5-3mm long, erect.

Not to Be Confused With:

• Tofieldia coccinea differs from T.pusilla in having a bract (small leaf) on the stem.

Physiology:

• Herbaceous

Life Cycle:

• Perennial from rootstock.

Seasonal Cycle:

• Blooming in mid-July.
• Stems and leaves deciduous.

Animal Uses:

Habitat:

• Moist calcareous places, tundra, conifer woods.

Modern:

Industrial:

Medicinal:

Food:

Traditional Gwich'in:

Folklore:

Industrial:

Medicinal:

Food:

Traditional Other:

Folklore:

• Asphodel was the name of a legendary immortal plant which clothed the Elysian fields of the Roman gods.

Industrial:

Medicinal:

Food: