Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Ranunculales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Thalictrum pubescens
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Common Tall Meadow-rue from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Thalictrum pubescens
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America
Thalictrum pubescens
SYNONYMOUS WITH Guide to the Vascular Plants of the Blue Ridge (Wofford, 1989)
Thalictrum pubescens var. pubescens
INCLUDED WITHIN & NOMEN NUDUM VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 076-11-009:
Thalictrum polygamum FAMILY Ranunculaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN & NOMEN NUDUM Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Thalictrum polygamum
COMMON NAME:
Common Tall Meadowrue, King-of-the-meadow, Late Meadowrue
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_thpo8_001_lvd
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JK Marlow jkm200502_4488
May Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Leaflet apex usually 2-3(5) lobed; base rounded to cuneate, rarely subcordate, per The Status of Thalictrum hepaticum (Keener, 1981).
)
JK Marlow jkm190618_9279
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm190618_9282
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Leaflet margins scarcely revolute, lobe margins entire, surfaces abaxially pubescent to glabrous, per Flora of North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm220626_8706
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm220626_8713
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
The white filaments on male plants radiate in all directions into a showy ball of white color, per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
)
JK Marlow jkm220626_8716
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Upper leaves subsessile, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm220626_8722
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Leaflets cordate, nearly orbiculate, ovate or obovate, apically undivided to 2-3(5)lobed/toothed, per Flora of North America.
COMPARE
leaves that resemble Thalictrum
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JK Marlow jkm230623_4143
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm0507f_17
July Pocahontas County WV
Cranberry Glades Botanical Area
Stamens are club-shaped, white, not drooping, per Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977).
)
JK Marlow jkm0507g_13
July Pocahontas County WV
Cranberry Glades Botanical Area
Filaments white, club-shaped, forming a starry burst of stamens, per Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: Northeastern US (Clemants & Gracie, 2006).
)
JK Marlow jkm0507h_09
July Pocahontas County WV
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm190702_9649
July Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm060813_156
August Haywood County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm080806_011b
August Haywood County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Achenes finely pubescent, not scimitar-shaped, not borne on a stipe, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
COMPARE
fruits that are an aggregate of achenes
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Thalictrum pubescens
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Thalictrum pubescens
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America
Thalictrum pubescens
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Guide to the Vascular Plants of the Blue Ridge (Wofford, 1989)
Thalictrum pubescens var. pubescens
INCLUDED WITHIN & NOMEN NUDUM
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 076-11-009:
Thalictrum polygamum
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN & NOMEN NUDUM
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Thalictrum polygamum
1497
Forb
Perennial
Dioecious
Habitat: bogs, marshes, wet forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in NC Mountains (uncommon elsewhere in NC); uncommon in Mountains of GA & SC (rare elsewhere in GA & SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Complexly compound, with 2+ levels of pinnate and/or ternate compoundness
Mostly alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White (filaments)
Radially symmetrical
4(-6) sepals
Petals absent
Superior ovary
Unisexual
Inflorescence paniculate
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Aggregate of achenes
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p269
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p178
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p146
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p215
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p015
- Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: Northeastern US (Clemants & Gracie, 2006) p306
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p307
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p064
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p051
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