Astragalus gilviflorus

Thalictrum dasycarpum

Tall Meadow-Rue

Female Plant
Carpel

Riding Mountain National Park
02-July-2010

Note that female flowers can have four or five sepals.

The key to the species in Budd's Flora requires:

stem leaves barely stalked; NOT [all leaves with stalks]

In fact, the lowest leaves of T. dasycarpum do have petioles. The upper leaves are barely stalked.

The key to the genera in Budd's Flora requires the following:

	leaf segments mostly toothed; NOT [leaf lobes entire]
	leaf segments acute; NOT [leaf lobes rounded]

In fact, the above do not apply T. dasycarpum. The rest of the answers to the key questions appear below.

Dasycarpum: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this species.

stems purplish

leaflets oblong, usually longer than wide; NOT [leaflets almost round] (BF)

leaflets longer than broad; NOT [leaflets often broader than long] (FOA)

leaflets 3-lobed; NOT [leaflets several-lobed]

leaflets mostly dark green above; NOT [leaflets pale green above]

leaflets often very finely hairy beneath; NOT [leaflets smooth beneath] (BF)

leaflets hairy below; NOT [leaflets glabrous or glandular-puberulent below] (FOA)

flowers unisexual; NOT [flowers perfect]

anthers generally more than 1 mm long; NOT [anthers 1 mm long or less]

achenes on stipes up to 1.5 mm long; NOT [achenes on stipes to 3 mm long]

achenes more or less inflated; NOT [achenes strongly flattened]

achenes usually hairy; NOT [achenes glabrous or glandular-puberulent]

Thalictrum: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this genus. Not all the answers apply to all species in Thalictrum, but they all do apply to T. dasycarpum.

plants NOT woody climbers

leaves NOT all basal, stem leaves present (BF)

leaves either basal or alternate; NOT [plants with opposite leaves] (BF)

leaves not basal, without involucral bracts below inflorescence; NOT [leaves all basal except involucre of leafy bracts some distance below the inflorescence] (BF)

cauline leaves alternate; NOT [cauline leaves whorled, forming an involucre] (FOA)

plants dioecious; NOT [flowers perfect]

flowers regular, not spurred; NOT [flowers irregular or spurred]

sepals inconspicuous; NOT [sepals conspicuous]

sepals greenish

petals absent

carpels 2 or more; NOT [carpel 1]

ovaries 1-ovuled; NOT [ovaries several-ovuled]

fruit an achene; NOT [fruit a follicle], NOT [fruit a berry]

Ranunculaceae: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora leading to this family. Not all the answers apply to all genera in Ranunculaceae, but they all do apply to Thalictrum.

herbs; NOT [shrubs or trees]

plants terrestrial or semiaquatic; NOT [plants aquatic, leaves submerged or floating]

plants NOT with colored milky juice

plants with more than one normal leaf

some or all leaves alternate; NOT [leaves opposite, whorled, or basal]

leaves without stipules, or having glands; NOT [leaves with stipules]

calyx regular; NOT [calyx irregular, some sepals smaller than others]

stamens usually more than 10; NOT [stamens 10 or fewer]

carpels separate; NOT [carpels united]