Scientific Name:	Zizia aptera (Gray) Fern.
English Name:	heart-leaved Alexanders
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference:	Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Classification Level:	Species
Species Group:	Vascular Plant
Species Code:	ZIZIAPT
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Plantae Anthophyta Dicotyledoneae Apiales Apiaceae
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status:	G5 (May 2016)
Provincial Status:	S4 (Apr 2019)
BC List:	Yellow
Provincial FRPA list:
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada:	4 - Secure (2010)
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Technical Description:	Zizia aptera is a 2-9 dm high perennial of the Umbelliferae. Roots fibrous, somewhat fleshy. Basal leaves long-petioled, simple, broadly ovate, rarely lobed or trifoliate, deeply cordate at base, crenate, 2.5-10 cm. long and 1.5-5 cm. wide. Stem leaves shorter petioled, ternate or rarely quinate, segments ovate, crenate or lobed. The western var. occidentalis has more coarsely and irregularly toothed stem leaves, which may also be thinner than those of var. aptera. Leaves have unpleasant odor when crushed, and are bitter tasting due to a water soluble compound, apterin. Blooms May to June. Flowers 3.5-4.5. mm long, yellow. Umbel loose, long-stalked, flat, compound. Rays of umbel 7-16, ascending, 1-3 cm. long; pedicels 1-3 mm. long. Fruits July to September. Fruit 2-4 mm long, 2 mm board, with filiform ribs; oil-tubes solitary in the intervals, 2 on the commissure; seed-face slightly concave. N = 11. This species is confused with Thaspium trifoliatum (because of its ternate stem leaves and heart-shaped basal leaves) but in Z. aptera the central flower of each umbellet is fertile and sessile, and the fruits are ribbed, not winged. Zizia aurea is also similar but lacks the heart-shaped basal leaves.
Similar Species:
Global Reproduction Comments:	Zizia aptera can occur in large patches (hundreds of plants). Plants may persist in a sterile condition for a number of years. Studies of the pollination biology of Zizia aurea and the related genus Thaspium (Lindsey 1984, Lindsey and Bell 1985) suggest that Z. aptera shares the same characteristics: the umbels are andromonoecious (have bisexual as well as staminate flowers), the bisexual flowers tend towards protandry, and some mechanical selfing probably occurs. Flies and solitary bees are among the most numerous visitors to the flowers. Andrena ziziae (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) has an oligolectic relationship with Zizia and Thaspium (Ribble 1968, Lindsey and Bell 1985). However, for a list of other plants visited see Krombien et al. (1979). Its range is from northeastern New Mexico north to Canada and east to New Hampshire and Georgia (Ribble 1968). It has been collected most frequently from the second week in May until the end of June (Ribble 1968). Another solitary bee, Andrena miranda, is also found on Z. aptera, but it visits many other plants as well (Krombien et al. 1979). Its range is "from central Alaska east to Newfoundland and south to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, northern Illinois and Minnesota in the east and south to northern New Mexico, Arizona and northern California in the west" (La Berge 1973). It has been collected most frequently in June and July (La Berge 1973). The leaves and seeds of Z. aptera produce a dihydrofuranocoumarin glycoside. It was isolated from the leaves and given the name apterin (Steck and Wetter 1974). Another study found no angular or linear furanocoumarins (Berenbaum 1981). Berenbaum (1981) reported the following herbivores on Z. aptera: Eulia fratria, Agonopterix clemensella (an umbellifeous specialist), Atchips purpuranus (all three Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), and Philaenus spumarius (Homoptera: Cercopidae). Larvae of Archips purpuranus are found on a number of plants (MacKay 1962.) Many tortricids fold or roll leaves, attaching the edges together, and may pupate inside. The meadow Spittlebug, Philaenus spumarius, can cause serious damage in the eastern United States by stunting crops, particularly clover (Borror et al. 1976). Eggs laid in late summer in plant stems or on the sheaths of grasses hatch the next spring.
Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence)
Global Habitat Comments:	Dry or mesic prairies, glades, rich or rocky woods, in mountains and piedmont, along bluff escarpments and thickets, calcareous river flats or rocky summit communities, near or on the banks of watercourses, in open or thin canopy which can be due to nature or un-natural disturbance (e.g., powerline right-of-ways, along railroad tracks, roadsides). It may have soil preferences (Lindsey, 1990). The western var. occidentalis more closely restricted to moist habitats than the typical eastern var. aptera. In Connecticut, it is found on the edge of second growth woods and on low bluffs along rivers (Murray 1989). In Illinois, it is found in wet prairies in the north, and in limestone glades in the south (Karnes 1989). In Indiana, all of the known populations occur on dry, thinly forested limestone slopes and glades (Homoya 1990). In Iowa, it occurs especially in dry to mesic prairies with a circumneutral soil (Leoschke 1990). In Michigan, it occurs on hillside prairies (steep and gravelly) in the southwestern Lower Peninsula, with Bessya bullii, Bouteloua curtipendula, Quercus prinus, Heuchera sp., Andropogon sp. and other prairie species (Penskar 1989). The northern, Mackinac County Population covers several acres of man-made mesic clearings on calcareous glacial till (Penskar 1989). Other species there include Achillea millefolium, Carex crawei, C. capillaris, C. castanea, Campanula rotundifolia, Castilleja coccinea, Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, Cypripedium calceolus, Juncus balticus, Lilium philadelphicum, Potentilla fruticosa, Prunella vulgaris, and Rudbeckia hirta (Penskar 1989). In Minnesota, it is most common in "wet mesic to mesic prairie but also in dry mesic and dry prairies and dry woods (but not on sand prairies). It occurs in oak and pine woods..." (Sather 1989). In Missouri, it is "most often at the edge of carbonate glades and throughout open woodlands bordering the glades" (Nigh 1989). In Montana, it is "relatively widespread in moist habitats...in moist, brushy thickets, very near or on the banks of watercourses" (Shelly 1989). In New Jersey, it occurs in the northern Ridge and Valley, Highlands, and Piedmont areas, and infrequently on the Inner Coastal Plain. Snyder has seen it "most abundant in dampish soil or seepage areas on trap rock or database (sic) and in similar conditions within our limestone region" (1989). In Ohio, the typical habitat is "grassy or barren opening over thin, calcareous soil. Typical associates include: Andropogon gerardii, A. scoparious, Bouteloua curtipendula, Silphium terebinthianaceum and Solidago rigida. In Belmont County in eastern Ohio it grows on talus below an exposure of low-grade limestone. The Franklin County sire is on glacial till exposed on an eroded bluff above a stream" (Cusick 1990). In Pennsylvania, one site on a limestone bluff is a calcareous rocky summit community containing two rare species, Chrysogonum virginianum and Dodecatheon meadia (Edinger 1989). Other species include Quercus alba, Q. rubra, Q. velutina, Carya laciniosa, Juniperus virginiana, Ostrya virginiana, Staphylea trifolia, Saxafraga virginiensis, Hypoxis hirsuta, Potentilla simplex, and Lonicera japonica (Rhoads and Mellon 1984). In South Carolina, it is most often found in the mountains and piedmont, or bluffs on the coastal plain. In wet piedmont sites dominated by soils of the Iredell series, it can be found with Zizia aurea, Thalictrum revolutum, Camassia scilloides, Geranium maculatum, Podophyllum peltatum, and Saxifraga virginiensis (Nelson 1989). In South Dakota, it has been found in habitats characterized by Pinus ponderosa or Populus tremuloides/Corylus cornuta (Hoffman and Alexander 1987). A study of soils in Deuel County found Z. aptera in poorly drained Flom soil (Hubbard et al. 1987). In Virginia, it is most often found where the soils are circumneutral to basic, with associates Polygala senega, and Scutellaria leonardii (Ludwig 1989).
Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month)
Elevation (m) (min / max):	Provincial:
Known Pests:
Pollen Vector:	BIOTIC Hymenoptera Insects, other
Pollinator:
Dispersal:	ABIOTIC Wind
Provincial Inventory
Inventory Priority:
Ownership of occurrences (Known locations):
Inventory Need:
Economic Attributes
Distribution
Endemic:	N
Global Range Comment:	Zizia aptera ranges from Connecticut to Georgia, to Missouri and Michigan and the Dakotas the western states and Canadian provinces. There is one historical record from Rhode Island (Enser 1989). The sole record from Kansas is a misidentified specimen of Z. aurea (Freeman 1989).
Disjunct, more common elsewhere:
Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere:
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author:	JOYCE C. HEMINGSON, CTFO
Last Updated:	Jan 29, 1990
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
Last Literature Search:
References and Related Literature
No references available

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1990. Species Summary: Zizia aptera. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 15, 2026).