This plant can be locally abundant and is one of the plants found in the cedar glades of Middle Tennessee. The vernacular name Rattlesnake master may come from it's use to treat snakebite or the rattle the seeds make in their pods.^(Hemmerly)

Medical Uses: Native Americans used the root of this plant for a few conditions such as dropsy and, as with so many other plants, snake bite. I know of no evidence to validate any medical use.

See the links below this image for other images. (1) © Daniel Reed   E-mail      Image use policy OTHER IMAGES These images open in a new window. You may need to resize the window to view the entire image. False Aloe (Manfreda virginica) - close view of flower  © Daniel Reed

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One of the best general guides to wildflowers of the North Eastern and North Central United States. Newcomb's key is an excellent, simple method for identifying plants. Newcomb has drawings for almost every plant mentioned that are excellent aids to identifying the species. Though only the more common plants are covered this is often the first book I pick up when trying to identify a wildflower.

Wildflo wers of Tennessee the Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians

This is perhaps the best of many field guides covering this region. Featuring 446 excellent color photographs (located with the text) and mentioning as similar to those illustrated are another 800 or so species for a total coverage of over 1,200 species. The start of each family section includes line drawings of some of the species showing important features. The text includes the usual description, bloom season, range, habitat and additionally includes information such as medical uses and lore and how the species was named. This is the official field guide of the Tennessee Native Plant Society.