Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

DITCH STONECROP

File Size: 94 KB

Penthorum sedoides L.

Ellsworth County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 6-24 inches

Family: Crassulaceae - Stonecrop Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September

Stems:

Erect to ascending, simple or sparingly branched above, glabrous below, glandular in the inflorescence.

Leaves:

Alternate, short-stalked or sessile, lanceolate to narrowly elliptical, 2 to 5 inches long, .8 to 1.6 inch wide, glabrous, shiny, sharply toothed, tapering at base, tip pointed.

Inflorescences:

Cyme, spike-like, 2-6-branched, terminal; branches 1 to 3 inches long, curved downward, bearing flowers on upper side.

Flowers:

Sepals usually 5, rarely 6 or 7, light greenish, erect to slightly spreading; petals absent or inconspicuous when present, 5 to rarely 7, 1/6 inch long; stamens 10; pistils 5-7, united to middle.

Fruits:

Capsule, 5-angled, ring-like, turning reddish at maturity; lobes horn-shaped, spreading; seeds many, pink, oval.

Habitat:

Stream banks, ditches, marshes, edges of lakes and ponds, often in standing water; wet soils.

Distribution:

Principally east 2/3 of Kansas.

Uses:

The leaves were cooked as a potherb and the seeds were used to make a cough treatment.

Comments:

From Greek pente "five" and horos "rule" in reference to the five floral parts. "Stonecrop" refers to Sedum acre in Europe, which grows on rocks and old walls. The common name is applied to related genera, such as Penthorum. Only three species of Penthorum are known, 1 in North America and 2 in China and Japan.

Ditch stonecrop stamens and pistils