About Lophiola aurea Ker Gawl.
Lophiola is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants native to eastern North America. This genus has been classified in multiple different plant families over time: Liliaceae, Haemodoraceae, Tecophilaeaceae, and Nartheciaceae. The single broadly accepted species is Lophiola aurea Ker Gawl. Its distribution spans the southeastern United States from Louisiana to North Carolina, with additional isolated populations found in Delaware, New Jersey, and Nova Scotia. In 1921, Fernald proposed recognizing three separate species within this group, splitting the Nova Scotia populations into L. septentrionalis and the New Jersey-Delaware populations into L. americana. However, more recent research supports treating the entire group as a single species. Lophiola aurea, commonly called goldencrest, grows in wet locations at elevations below 100 m. It is a perennial herb that reaches up to 90 cm in height, and spreads via underground rhizomes. It produces yellow flowers around 10 mm across, and dry capsules approximately 4 mm in diameter.
