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Chelone lyonii Pursh
Appalachian Turtlehead
Federal Protection: No US federal protection
State Protection: No Georgia state protection
Global Rank: G4
State Rank: S1
Element Locations Tracked in Biotics: Yes
SWAP 2015 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): Yes
SWAP 2025 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): Yes
2025 SGCN Priority Tier: High Conservation Concern
Element Occurrences (EOs) in Georgia: 1
Habitat Summary for element in Georgia: Wet woods, streamsides, fens of S. Appalachians
Perennial herb, with erect, 4-angled stems 16 - 39 inches (40 - 100 cm) tall. The leaves are 3 - 5.5 inches long and 1.5 - 3 inches wide (8 - 14 cm long and 4 - 8 cm wide), opposite, toothed, waxy-white on the lower surface, oval to lance-shaped, broadest below the middle with pointed tips and rounded or squared-off bases; the leaf stalks are 0.5 - 1.6 inches (1.5 - 4 cm) long. Flower clusters are compact, with short flower stalks hidden beneath rounded bracts. Viewed from the side, the flowers are shaped somewhat like turtle heads and are about 1 inch (3 cm) long, dark pink to purple, consisting of an inflated tubular throat with two short lips; the upper lip is smooth, broad, and hood-like; the lower lip is smaller, hairy, more or less flat except downcurved and 3-lobed at the tip. Inside the flower, there are a yellow “beard,” 4 fertile, flattened, hairy stamens in 2 pairs of unequal length; and one white, hairless, pink- or white-tipped sterile stamen (staminodium); sometimes a stamen or the style will extend beyond the tip of the flower. Fruit is a turtle head-shaped capsule often topped by the persistent style and containing many flat, round, winged seeds.
There are four species of Chelone in the southeast U.S., all of which occur in Georgia and all of which resemble one another. Besides Appalachian Turtlehead, there are two other rare Chelone species in Georgia (see below).
The only Georgia Chelone that is not rare is White Turtlehead (Chelone glabra). Its leaves are green beneath, not waxy-white. Its flowers are white, often tinted pink, purple, or green at the lips, with white hairs (rarely greenish-yellow) on the inner surface. The sterile stamen is white with a green tip. It occurs in swamps and seeps, and on streambanks throughout Georgia.
Cuthbert's Turtlehead (Chelone cuthbertii) is known from mountain bogs in two northeast Georgia counties, Rabun and White. It has purple flowers with white, purple-tipped sterile stamens and yellow “beards”; leaf stalks are absent or less than 3 mm long. For more information, see: https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile.html?group=plants&es_id=21937&fus_tab_id=1HsRRHkW2qqMS1MunY5KMrvThVR_5C8sAX2-pFapk&group=plant
Purple Turtlehead (Chelone obliqua) is known from one seepage bog in Rabun County, in northeast Georgia. It has pink or purple flowers with white-tipped sterile stamens and yellow hairs on the inner surface of the flower. Its leaves have tapering bases and stalks that are up to 0.2 - 0.6 inch (0.5 - 1.5 cm) long. For more information, see: https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c100
In Georgia, Appalachian Turtlehead occurs amongst rocks and in the spray zone at the base of a waterfall. Elsewhere in the Southern Appalachians, it occurs in moist cove forests, spruce-fir forests, mountain balds, and along streambanks.
Appalachian Turtlehead is a perennial, winter-dormant herb that sexually reproduces. Little is known about the life history of this species, but the flower and fruit ecology of the closely related White Turtlehead (Chelone glabra) has been studied, and the results – presented here – may apply to Appalachian Turtlehead. The flowers of White Turtlehead may occasionally self-pollinate but only cross-pollinated flowers will set seed. Although its flowers are visited by at least 20 species of insects, cross-pollination of White Turtlehead is effected mainly by the Half-black Bumble Bee (Bombus vagans), a species of bee that is large and strong enough to push open the nearly closed lips of the flower. Other bees, such as Common Eastern Bumble Bee (B. impatiens) and Annulate Masked Bee (Hylaeus annulatus), visit White Turtlehead flowers but do not effect pollination.
In order to prevent self-pollination, the stamens in flowers on a given White Turtlehead plant mature early, offering pollen rewards to bumble bees while their stigmas are not yet ready to receive pollen. Later, when the stamens have withered, the stigmas in the flowers on that plant become ready to receive pollen – hopefully pollen carried from the flowers of a different White Turtlehead plant that is still in male-phase. During the female-phase, the flowers produce copious amounts of nectar that attract a wide variety of insects but bumble bees are the most successful at retrieving it and effecting pollination at the same time. (Some bees rob the flower of its nectar by chewing a hole in the base of the flower and extracting nectar without passing by the anthers or the stigma.) The insignificant and seemingly useless sterile stamen may take part in pollination. By making it harder for a bee to move around inside of or exit from the flower, it increases the amount of time a bee stays in the flower and may raise the odds that it both deposits and picks up pollen.
The leaves of Chelone species contain compounds called iridoid glycosides that have a bitter taste and deter insect herbivores. However, some insects, notably Checkerspot butterflies, have adapted to the presence of these compounds. Their caterpillars eat the vegetation and sequester the compounds in their bodies (as well in the adult form), making them unpalatable to predators.
Surveys for Appalachian Turtlehead should be carried out when it flowers, August to September, since flower color is a key trait for identification.
Appalachian Turtlehead is endemic to the Southern Appalachian mountains of western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, northeast Alabama, northwest Georgia, and northwest South Carolina. It is rare within most of its range. A cultivar of this species called ‘Hot Lips’ is widely planted outside of the natural range of the species.
Appalachian Turtlehead is threatened by logging, hydrological changes such as damming, exotic pest plant invasion, and feral hog digging. It is likely to be negatively impacted by the droughts and flashy, intense floods predicted as a consequence of climate change.
| Threat 1 | Threat 2 | Threat 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Threat | Transportation & service corridors | Biological resource use | Human intrusions & disturbance |
| Specific Threat | None | None | None |
Chelone lyonii is ranked S1 by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, indicating that it is critically imperiled in the state. There is only one known population in Georgia; it occurs on privately owned land protected by a conservation easement.
Conduct surveys for more populations. Monitor the known population for exotic species invasion and impacts of climate change.
GADNR. 2019. Element occurrence record for Chelone lyonii. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. Social Circle, Georgia.
Godfrey, R.K. and J.W. Wooten. 1981. Aquatic and wetland plants of southeastern United States, Vol. 2, dicotyledons. University of Georgia Press, Athens.
Richardson, L.L. and R.W. Irwin. 2015. Pollination ecology and floral visitor spectrum of turtlehead (Chelone glabra L.; Plantaginaceae). Journal of Pollination Ecology 17(20): 132-144. https://www.pollinationecology.org/index.php?journal=jpe&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=354&path%5B%5D=127
Walker-Larsen, J. and L.D. Harder. 2001. Vestigial organs as opportunities for functional innovation: the example of the Penstemon staminode. Evolution 55(3): 477-487. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0014-3820.2001.tb00782.x
Weakley, A.S. 2015. Flora of the southern and mid-Atlantic States. University of North Carolina Herbarium, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm
Linda G. Chafin
Linda G. Chafin, 29 October 2019: original account.
