Agrimonia pubescens
Agrimonia microcarpa
aigremoine pubescente, downy agrimony, soft agrimony, soft groovebur
low agrimony, slender groovebur, smallfruit agrimony
tubers ± fusiform.
tubers ± narrowly oblong, thickened.
with short-stipitate-glandular hairs and pubescent to villous and hirsute (hairs scattered, erect, 2–3 mm, stiff).
with short-stipitate-glandular hairs and pubescent to villous and hirsute (hairs scattered, erect, 3–4 mm, stiff).
mid cauline stipules ± broadly 1/2-ovate, margins dentate, apical lobes sometimes attenuate;
major leaflets 3–13 (mid cauline 5–9), minor 1 or 1–3 pairs;
major leaflet blades elliptic or narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, sometimes ± obovate (lateral sometimes ± falcate), terminal largest, largest of these 3.3–9.8 × 1.4–5.5 cm, margins serrate to dentate, apex obtuse to acute or acuminate, abaxial surface rarely with glistening glandular hairs, pubescent to pilose and sparsely hirsute (hairs stiff, 1–2 mm, usually densest along major veins).
mid cauline stipules ± falcate to ± 1/2-round, margins deeply incised;
major leaflets 3–9 (mid cauline 5–7), minor 0 or 1 pair;
major leaflet blades obovate to elliptic, terminal largest, largest of these 2.9–7 × 1.7–3.7 cm, margins serrate to dentate, apex obtuse to acute, abaxial surface rarely with glistening sessile-glandular hairs and pubescent to pilose and hirsute (hairs stiff, scattered, 1–2 mm, densest along major veins).
axes with short-stipitate-glandular hairs to villous and hirsute (hairs stiff, ± scattered, usually erect proximally and 1–3 mm to ± ascending distally and 1 mm).
axes pubescent to villous and hirsute (hairs stiff proximally, erect and 2 mm to ascending distally and 1 mm).
usually ± alternate.
usually ± alternate.
hypanthia turbinate to campanulate, 1.9–4.5 × 2–4.6 mm, deeply to shallowly sulcate, hooked bristles in 3–4 circumferential rows, proximal row spreading ± 90° (pressed upward on dried specimens), glandular-hairy, grooves strigose, ridges sparsely hirsute (sepal bases usually pubescent along rim).
hypanthia turbinate to obconic, 2.2–4 × 3–4.6 mm, ± deeply sulcate, hooked bristles in 3 circumferential rows, proximal row spreading 45–90°, glandular-hairy (hairs short-stipitate), grooves strigose, ridges rarely sparsely hirsute (sepal bases rarely pubescent along rim).
Agrimonia pubescens
Agrimonia microcarpa
Agrimonia pubescens includes three recognizable morphs. The principal patterns are: leaves with major leaflets more or less obovate to more or less elliptic, 5–7 leaflets on mid cauline leaves, 1 minor pair; leaves with major leaflets more or less narrowly obovate to elliptic, 7 leaflets on mid cauline leaves, 0–1 or 1–3 minor pairs; and, leaves with major leaflets elliptic to narrowly elliptic or lanceolate, 7–9 leaflets on mid cauline leaves, 0–1 or 1–3 minor pairs. Lateral major leaflets are frequently more or less falcate in morphs two and three. Stipules with attenuate apical lobes are usual in morph three and frequent in morph two. No discontinuities in the variation occur within A. pubescens, and all patterns of variation are found throughout the range. Plants resembling A. microcarpa in major leaflet shape and in the number of major and minor leaflets can usually be identified as A. pubescens by stipule shape, the presence or absence of stiff hairs on mature hypanthia ridges, and/or the lengths of stem hairs. Additional study is needed to establish the phylogeny and perhaps a more precise taxonomy of this species as well as its relationship to A. microcarpa. Eupatorium molle (Torrey & A. Gray) Nieuwland, which pertains here, is illegitimate.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Of conservation concern.
The ranges of Agrimonia microcarpa and A. pubescens overlap from North Carolina through Arkansas. Only rarely do populations of either species occur in the range of the other species beyond that contact area. Plants occurring within the range of A. pubescens that resemble A. microcarpa but lack one or more of the above characteristics have been included in A. pubescens. Observations of plants of A. pubescens grown from seed in the garden at Northern Illinois University suggest that some, if not most, plants resembling A. microcarpa are young second-year plants or are under stress. Ambiguous identifications are most clearly resolved when mature fruits are present.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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