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Fendler's
Meadowrue
Common
Name(s):
Fendler's Meadowrue
Meadow Rue
Scientific
Name:
Thalictrum
fendleri Engelm. ex Gray
Scientific
Name Synonyms:
None known
Symbol:
THFE
Description:
Life
Span: Perennial
Origin:
Native
Season: Cool
Growth Characteristics:
An
erect, mostly leafy-stemmed forb, growing 1 to 3 feet tall, with
bluish-green foliage.
Flowers/Inflorescence:
Meadowrue
flowers lack petals and, although individually small, are often
showy collectively in terminal clusters. The sepals are greenish,
whitish, or purplish. Plants are usually dioecious (male and female
flowers borne on different plants).
Fruits/Seeds:Single
achene, which is compressed and strongly nerved.
Leaves: Alternate,
ternately compounded, and columbine-like. Leaflets are usually three-lobed
and often more or less toothed.
Ecological
Adaptations:
Fendler's
meadowrue grows in higher elevations (up to 10,000 ft) in shady,
moist areas. It is usually under Aspen, and to a lesser extent,
under shrubs, ponderosa pine, Englemann spruce, and other coniferous
timber.
Soils: Moist,
loam soils.
Associated Species:
Aspen,
peavine.
Uses and
Management:
Fendler's
meadowrue is worthless to poor in palatability for cattle and poor
to fair for sheep. On very heavily grazed range, it is sometimes
almost completely utilized. Close cropping of this species is indicative
of an overstocked range.
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