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

gooseberry-leaf alumroot

downy alum-root

Habit Herbs acaulescent; caudex branched. Herbs acaulescent; caudex branched.
Flowering stems

15–65 cm, glabrous or short stipitate-glandular.

often leafy, 30–95 cm, short stipitate-glandular.

Leaves

petiole glabrous or short stipitate-glandular;

blade cordate or orbiculate, shallowly 3–5-lobed, 1–7 cm, base cordate, lobes rounded, margins dentate, apex obtuse, surfaces glabrous or short stipitate-glandular.

petiole glabrous or short stipitate-glandular;

blade broadly ovate to cordate, shallowly 5-lobed, 3–9 cm, base cordate to nearly truncate, lobes rounded to widely ovate, margins dentate, apex acute or obtuse, surfaces glabrous or sparsely short stipitate-glandular, at least on veins abaxially.

Inflorescences

dense, interrupted.

diffuse.

Flowers

hypanthium weakly bilaterally symmetric, free 1.2–1.9 mm, cream, broadly campanulate, 4–7 mm, short stipitate-glandular;

sepals erect, often red-tipped, equal, 2 mm, apex rounded;

petals erect, pink or white, spatulate to narrowly oblanceolate, (clawed), unlobed, 1–3 mm, margins entire;

stamens included 1.5 mm; (filaments strongly incurved, shorter than and almost concealed by anthers);

styles included to 1 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.1+ mm diam.

hypanthium moderately bilaterally symmetric, free 2–6.2 mm, green, campanulate, abruptly inflated distal to adnation to ovary, 5.5–13.2 mm, very short stipitate-glandular;

sepals spreading, green-tipped, equal, 2–4.2 mm, apex rounded (sinuses narrower than petals);

petals inflexed, pink or purple, broadly spatulate, unlobed, 2.4–4.4 mm, margins fimbriate;

stamens 1.1 mm included to 3.7 mm exserted;

styles from 0.6 mm included to 3 mm exserted, 4–6 mm, to 0.1 mm diam.

Capsules

ovoid, 5 mm, beaks divergent, not papillose.

ovoid, 7–11 mm, not papillose.

Seeds

dark brown, ellipsoid, 0.6 mm.

dark brown, ellipsoid, 0.6–1 mm.

2n

= 14, 28.

= 14.

Heuchera grossulariifolia

Heuchera pubescens

Phenology Flowering May–Aug. Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Grassy hillsides, rocky canyon walls, alpine talus slopes Shaded circumneutral rock outcroppings, ledges, and rocky cuts
Elevation 100-3400 m (300-11200 ft) 100-1400 m (300-4600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; MT; NV; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
MD; NC; PA; SC; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Heuchera grossulariifolia includes both diploids and autotetraploids. K. A. Segraves and J. N. Thompson (1999) analyzed floral traits and flowering phenology in diploid and autotetraploid plants. Overall, plant size was greater in tetraploids than in diploids; flowers of tetraploids were larger (average hypanthium 6.5 mm) than those of diploids (average hypanthium 5.5 mm) and had a slightly different shape and phenology, but the diploids and tetraploids were not assigned taxonomic status in their study. Diploids and tetraploids were mixed in some populations, where characters intergraded (D. E. Soltis, pers. comm.). The autotetraploids have had two to seven independent origins from diploid progenitors, and do not represent a monophyletic lineage (Segraves and Thompson; Segraves et al. 1999).

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

Heuchera pubescens intergrades with H. americana where their ranges overlap, primarily in the central Appalachians of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia; the intergrading form is recognized here as H. americana var. hispida. It is rare in South Carolina.

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

Source FNA vol. 8, p. 103. FNA vol. 8, p. 95.
Parent taxa Saxifragaceae > Heuchera Saxifragaceae > Heuchera
Sibling taxa
H. abramsii, H. alba, H. americana, H. bracteata, H. brevistaminea, H. caespitosa, H. caroliniana, H. chlorantha, H. cylindrica, H. eastwoodiae, H. elegans, H. glabra, H. glomerulata, H. hallii, H. hirsutissima, H. longiflora, H. maxima, H. merriamii, H. micrantha, H. novamexicana, H. parishii, H. parviflora, H. parvifolia, H. pilosissima, H. pubescens, H. pulchella, H. richardsonii, H. rubescens, H. sanguinea, H. villosa, H. wootonii
H. abramsii, H. alba, H. americana, H. bracteata, H. brevistaminea, H. caespitosa, H. caroliniana, H. chlorantha, H. cylindrica, H. eastwoodiae, H. elegans, H. glabra, H. glomerulata, H. grossulariifolia, H. hallii, H. hirsutissima, H. longiflora, H. maxima, H. merriamii, H. micrantha, H. novamexicana, H. parishii, H. parviflora, H. parvifolia, H. pilosissima, H. pulchella, H. richardsonii, H. rubescens, H. sanguinea, H. villosa, H. wootonii
Synonyms H. cusickii, H. grossulariifolia var. tenuifolia, H. tenuifolia H. pubescens var. brachyandra
Name authority Rydberg: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 196. (1900) Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 187. (1813)
Web links