Zizia cordata W.D.J. Koch ex DC.
Zizia aptera (A. Gray) Fernald
Heart-leaved golden alexander, meadow zizia
Heart-leaved golden alexanders are North American natives. They are herbaceous perennials that grow singly or in small colonies/clumps.
Plants: Up to 1–3′ (30–91 cm) in height, with single or multiple stems.
Leaves: Basal leaves are heart-shaped, with rounded or blunt tips and long stalks. Upper leaves are compound, split into three leaflets or nearly unlobed. All leaves are serrated. upper leaves in two. Leaves are up to 4″ (10 cm) long and 3″ (7.6 cm) wide, heart-shaped, with finely toothed edges.
Flowers: Flowerheads have the overall shape of a flat or gently curved umbrella about 1½–3″ (3.8–7.6 cm) across, divided into 7-15 (umbellets). The smaller groups contain approximately 25 tiny yellow flowers, each less than ⅛″ (3.2 mm) across, each with five petals that remain nearly closed, and five yellow stamens.
Fruits: Slightly flattened ovals, with two ridged sections that split into seeds. The seeds are ⅛″ (3 mm) long, and brown when mature.
Habitats: Black soil prairies, hillside prairies, rocky upland woodlands, limestone glades, bluffs, abandoned fields, and roadsides.
 |
Two golden alexanders. |
Edibility: Not edible. Caution: the flowerheads of these
plants resemble those of water hemlock (Cicuta maculata), which is extremely poisonous 
. Water hemlock
flowers are white, while zizias are yellow.
Online References:
Zizia aptera (A. Gray) Fernald var. occidentalis Fernald
Zizia cordata W.D.J. Koch ex DC.
Zizia cordata W.D.J. Koch ex DC.
6/22/2017 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 10″ (16 × 24 cm) 
5/20/2026 · Cutler Botanic Garden, Binghamton, New York · ≈ 6 × 8″ (14 × 21 cm) 
5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm) 
6/11/2025 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm) 
6/11/2025 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 5 × 8″ (13 × 20 cm) 
6/11/2025 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.2 cm) 
5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 6″ (23 × 15 cm) 
6/22/2017 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 10″ (16 × 24 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Asteridae | A large class that encompasses asters |
| Order | Apiales | Includes carrots, celery, parsley, and ivy |
| Family | Apiaceae | Carrot or parsley family, also includes angelica, anise, caraway, celery, chervil, cicely, coriander/cilantro, cumin, dill, fennel, hemlock, lovage, Queen Anne’s Lace, parsnip |
| Genus | Zizia | Named for German botanist Johann Baptist Ziz (1779–1829) |
| Species | aptera | Means “without wings” |
Zizia aptera description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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