# golden Alexanders

*Zizia aurea*

This plant is a critical food source for the black swallowtail butterfly caterpillar, which eagerly devours its compound leaves.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Apiales › Apiaceae › Zizia
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** grassland
- **Habitat:** Moist prairies, meadows, open woodlands, and abandoned fields.
- **Diet:** Autotrophic (Photosynthetic)
- **Range:** Eastern United States, Eastern Canada, Great Plains
- **Size:** 30 to 90 centimeters tall
- **Lifespan:** 3-5 years
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Habitat destruction, displacement by aggressive invasive weeds, and heavy mowing during the spring blooming season.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless to touch, but exercise extreme caution in identification: Golden Alexanders closely resemble highly toxic species like poison hemlock. Do not ingest. If sap contacts skin, wash with soap and water to avoid potential mild phototoxicity.

## About

Zizia aurea ( golden alexanders , golden zizia ) is a flowering perennial forb of the carrot family (Apiaceae). It is hardy in USDA zones 4-9. It can be found from New Brunswick to Saskatchewan in Canada, south to Florida and Texas in the United States.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/a764beef-bb8a-4f57-b5d6-da9e4c596fbe
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/83154
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zizia aurea
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/387361379/medium.jpg (christine123, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.