Richardson's alumroot

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Richardson's alumroot leaves

Richardson's alumroot flowers

Richardson's alumroot flowering stem

Richardson's alumroot leaves

Richardson's alumroot

Richardson's alumroot

Richardson's alumroot inflorescence

Morphology

Stem

Flowering stems erect, densely stipitate-glandular, often leafless.

Leaves

Basal; stipules present; petiole 1.2 to 8 inches long, densely or sparsely stipitate-glandular; blade not leathery, broadly ovate to cordate, 1 to 4 inches long, 1.2 to 3.2 inches wide, margins deeply 5-7-lobed and dentate, base cordate to nearly truncate, apex acute, surfaces stipitate-glandular or adaxial sometimes glabrous.

Inflorescence

Terminal, racemose or narrowly paniculate, open or congested, 2 to 8 inches long, glandular-puberulent.

Flower

Hypanthium bilaterally symmetric, green, cylindric to campanulate, .2 to .55 inch, stipitate-glandular; sepals 5, erect, equal, .05 to .16 inch, apex rounded; petals 5, erect, green or greenish white, rarely pink, narrowly spatulate, .05 to .16 inch, margins finely dentate or coarsely fringed; stamens 5, enclosed or slightly exserted.

Fruit

Capsules ovoid, .28 to .6 inch, 2-beaked, beaks divergent; seeds numerous, dark brown, ovoid to ellipsoid, .02 to .03 inch, prickly.

Ecology

Habitat

Tallgrass prairies and oak-hickory woodlands.

Distribution

East 1/4 of Kansas

Reproduction

None

Practical Information

Toxicity

None

Forage Value

None

Uses

Native American tribes took decoctions and infusions of root or chewed the root to treat diarrhea, used an infusion of root as a wash for sore eyes, and applied a poultice of powdered roots to sores.

Additional Notes