Flora of North America species comparison

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Galega officinalis

common goat's-rue, French lilac, galéga officinal, goat's-rue, professor-weed
Stems

clumped from caudex, 40–140 cm.
Leaves

(6–)8–20 × (3–)6–10 cm;

stipules opposite petiole, base sagittate, margins toothed;

leaflet blades linear-elliptic, (15–)30–50 × 25–18 mm, apex mucronate.
Pedicels

reflexed at anthesis, erect in fruit, 2–4.5 mm, glabrous.
Flowers

calyx campanulate, subactinomorphic, tube 2–2.5 mm, 10-veined, glabrous, teeth subequal, puberulent or glabrous;

banner shallowly lobed, wings equal or subequal to keel, keel 7–11 mm, apex blunt.
Legumes

ascending, light green, shallowly torulose with constrictions between seeds, sutures prominent, 25–45 × 2–3 mm.
2n

= 16.

Galega officinalis
Phenology Flowering early spring–late summer.
Habitat Disturbed sites.
Elevation 10–1500 m. [30–4900 ft.]
Distribution
from FNA
CO; CT; DC; FL; ID; IN; MA; ME; NE; NY; OH; OR; PA; UT; WA; WV; ON; QC; Eurasia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in s South America, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Galega officinalis was introduced as a forage plant in northern Utah during the early twentieth century by a professor at the Utah Agricultural College. The species quickly became weedy in agricultural sites and it was given the local name professor weed; it has become a noxious weed in most of its range in North America. The plants contain toxic alkaloids.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Galega
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 714. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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