''Thalictrum fendleri'' is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name Fendler's meadow-rue. It is named in honor of

Augustus Fendler Augustus Fendler (January 10, 1813 – November 27, 1883), alternatively written as August Fendler, was a Prussian-born American natural history collector. Fendler gained his first taste of exploration as a physician's assistant. He partook in a ...

. The plant is native to western North America, including much of the western United States and northern Mexico. It is a common plant found in many types of habitats, including open places to shaded areas in woodlands and forests. It is anemophilous (pollinated via wind action).

Description

''Thalictrum fendleri'' is a perennial herb growing erect to tall. The hairless stems are green to purple in color. The leaves have compound blades divided into a few or many segments of varying shapes, often with three lobes, and are borne on long, slender petioles. The blades are hairless to slightly fuzzy and glandular. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is an upright or arching panicle of flowers. The species is usually dioecious, with male and female flowers occurring on separate plants, but plants with bisexual flowers have been noted. The male flower has a bell-shaped calyx of four

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s in shades of greenish white or purple which may lighten to white with age. From the calyx dangle many long, yellow or purple stamens tipped with large anthers. The female flower has a cluster of immature fruits tipped with styles in shades of light to deep, bright pink. As the fruits develop the styles wither to hard, black stubs. A cluster may have up to 20 fruits. There are three recognized subspecies of ''Thalictrum fendleri:'' ''Thilactrum fendleri var. fendleri'', which is found in AZ, CA, CO, ID, NM, NV, OR, TX, UT, WY. ''Thilactrum fendleri var. wrighti'' which is found in AZ, NM, TX. ''Thilactrum fendleri var. polycarpum'' which is found in CA, NV, OR, UT. Thalictrum fendleri var

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Thalictrum fendleri''''Thalictrum fendleri'' — UC Photo gallery
fendleri Flora of Northeastern Mexico Flora of Northwestern Mexico Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of California Flora of New Mexico Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Rocky Mountains Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Transverse Ranges {{Ranunculales-stub