The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

yellow-green lady's mantle

alchémille glabre, smooth lady's mantle

Habit Plants large, yellowish green to green, rarely with reddish orange leaf margins, robust, compact often with rather rigid stems, 40–60 cm. Plants medium-sized to occasionally very large, yellowish grass green to dark green, often reddish brown on exposed parts of stems and petioles.
Stems

usually densely spreading-hairy, sometimes sparsely in distal 1/2.

glabrous or appressed-hairy proximally, glabrous distally.

Leaves

stipules translucent, colorless proximally, lobes green, quickly turning brownish;

petiole thickly, densely pubescent (hairs patent or, when not fully developed, slightly ascending);

blade reniform to orbiculate, 7–11-lobed, margins flat or slightly undulate, basal sinuses wide, basal lobes not overlapping, middle lobes equal to longer than their half-widths and rounded, or as long as wide and straight-sided;

incisions usually absent, sometimes relatively short;

teeth sometimes proximal sides at least slightly connivent, side slightly concave near apex, usually slightly, sometimes markedly, asymmetric, apex acute to subobtuse, abaxial surface with nerves hairy throughout, internerve regions uniformly or irregularly hairy throughout, adaxial yellowish to light green, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely hairy on teeth, margins, and folds or on some folds only.

stipules translucent, usually suffused with red proximally, translucent to pale green distally, lobes pale green;

petiole glabrous or sparsely to densely appressed-hairy;

blade reniform-orbiculate, 7–9(–11)-lobed, margins flat or slightly undulate, basal sinuses narrow or wide, middle lobes as long as to longer than their half-widths, rounded to triangular-ovate;

incisions absent;

teeth ± connivent, slightly concave near apex, strongly asymmetric, apex subacute or obtuse, abaxial surface with nerves hairy throughout or in distal 1/2 only, internerve regions glabrous, adaxial glabrous or slightly hairy near margins, rarely (late-season leaves) hairy on folds.

Inflorescences

primary branches densely hairy;

peduncles sparsely hairy or glabrous.

primary branches glabrous.

Pedicels

glabrous or some of the proximal rarely sparsely hairy.

glabrous.

Flowers

epicalyx bractlet lengths 0.5 times to almost equal to sepals (narrower);

hypanthium usually glabrous or sparsely hairy (on proximalmost flowers).

epicalyx bractlet lengths 0.5 times sepals (narrower);

hypanthium glabrous.

Achenes

exserted 1/3 from discs.

exserted from discs.

Alchemilla xanthochlora

Alchemilla glabra

Phenology Flowering late May–Sep. Flowering Jul–Aug.
Habitat Moist meadows, herb slopes, willow scrub, ditches, lawns Meadows
Elevation 0–50 m (0–200 ft) 0–100 m (0–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
NB; NS; QC; Europe [Introduced in North America]
from FNA
AK; NB; NF; QC; Europe [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Alchemilla xanthochlora was recognized by P. A. Rydberg (1908–1918) and M. L. Fernald (1950) as A. pratensis attributed to F. W. Schmidt, as typical A. vulgaris Linnaeus by M. L. Fernald and K. M. Wiegand (1912), and as A. vulgaris var. vulgaris by B. Boivin (1966b). Actually, Schmidt published a varietal name [A. vulgaris var. pratensis F. W. Schmidt, A. pratensis (F. W. Schmidt) Opiz], which does not apply to this species nor does A. vulgaris.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 9, p. 306. FNA vol. 9, p. 305.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Alchemilla Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Alchemilla
Sibling taxa
A. alpina, A. filicaulis, A. glabra, A. glaucescens, A. glomerulans, A. micans, A. mollis, A. monticola, A. subcrenata, A. venosa, A. wichurae
A. alpina, A. filicaulis, A. glaucescens, A. glomerulans, A. micans, A. mollis, A. monticola, A. subcrenata, A. venosa, A. wichurae, A. xanthochlora
Synonyms A. alpestris, A. vulgaris var. alpestris, A. vulgaris var. grandis
Name authority Rothmaler: Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 42: 167. (1937) Neygenfind: Ench. Bot., 67. (1821)
Web links