Heuchera micrantha |
Heuchera americana |
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alum root, crevice alum-root, small-flower alumroot |
alumroot, American alum-root, common alum-root |
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| Habit | Herbs caulescent; caudex branched. | Herbs acaulescent; caudex branched. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Flowering stems | 6–57 cm, short to long stipitate-glandular or glabrous, viscid. |
leafy, 40–145 cm, glabrous or short stipitate-glandular. |
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| Leaves | petiole glabrous or sparsely to densely short to long stipitate-glandular; blade orbiculate to polygonal, shallowly to deeply 5–7(–9)-lobed, 2.5–10 cm, base cordate, lobes rounded, margins dentate, apex rounded or obtuse, surfaces glabrous or short to long stipitate-glandular, viscid. |
petiole glabrous or very short to long stipitate-glandular; blade (often variegated adaxially), broadly ovate to cordate, shallowly 5–9-lobed, 3.5–11 cm, base cordate to nearly truncate, lobes rounded or ovate, margins dentate, apex acute or obtuse, surfaces abaxially glabrous or short stipitate-glandular, adaxially glabrous or short stipitate-glandular. |
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| Inflorescences | diffuse. |
diffuse. |
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| Flowers | hypanthium radially symmetric, free to 1.5 mm, greenish white, often tinged with red, obconic to hemispheric, broadly turbinate, or campanulate, 1–4.9 mm, long stipitate-glandular, sometimes short stipitate-glandular proximally; sepals spreading to nearly erect, green- or red-tipped, equal, 0.5–1.8 mm, apex rounded to acute or mucronate; petals often coiled, white or pale pink, oblanceolate, (narrowly clawed), unlobed, 1.6–3.3 mm (2–3 times as long as sepals), margins entire; stamens exserted to 3 mm; styles exserted to 2.5 mm, 0.2–4.2 mm, to 0.1 mm diam. |
hypanthium weakly bilaterally symmetric, free 0.6–2 mm, green, urceolate or campanulate, abruptly inflated distal to adnation to ovary, 3–7.2 mm, very short stipitate-glandular; sepals erect, green-tipped, equal, 1–2.4 mm, apex rounded; petals erect, greenish, white, pink, or purple, narrowly spatulate, unlobed, 0.9–4 mm, margins entire or finely dentate or fimbriate; stamens exserted 3–5 mm; styles exserted 2.6–6.4 mm, 4–7 mm, to 0.1 mm diam. |
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| Capsules | ovoid, 3–8.5 mm, beaks divergent, not papillose. |
ovoid, 4–10.5 mm, beaks divergent, not papillose. |
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| Seeds | black, broadly ellipsoid, (not curved), 0.5–0.8 mm. |
dark brown, ellipsoid, 0.6–0.9 mm. |
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Heuchera micrantha |
Heuchera americana |
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| Distribution |
CA; ID; OR; WA; BC
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AL; AR; CT; DE; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; VA; WV; ON
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| Discussion | Varieties 5 (5 in the flora). The Skagit Indians rubbed pounded plants of Heuchera micrantha on hair to make it grow and applied it to cuts. The Thompson Indians used a mashed poultice of this root mixed with Douglas fir pitch for wounds. Chewed leaves and roots were spat on sores or wounds. Infusions of roots were taken for liver trouble and sore throat. Small, peeled, cleaned root pieces were chewed for mouth sores and gum boils (D. E. Moerman 1998). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 3 (3 in the flora). Heuchera americana is highly polymorphic and distributed over a large part of the eastern United States and Canada. Its variability is largely the result of its wide geographic range, the sporadic, semi-isolated distribution of populations, and interaction of differential adaptation and genetic drift made possible by its distribution pattern. Heuchera americana intergrades with both H. pubescens and H. richardsonii where they overlap; the intergrading form with H. pubescens is H. americana var. hispida, and with H. richardsonii it is H. americana var. hirsuticaulis. A breeding study between H. americana, H. pubescens, H. richardsonii, and other species demonstrated ease of artificial hybridization and fertility of offspring among H. americana, H. pubescens, and H. richardsonii (E. F. Wells 1979). Individuals of the three varieties do not form intermixed populations; populations tend to be geographically isolated from one another and to be relatively uniform, displaying somewhat narrow character variation within a population. The Cherokee Indians took Heuchera americana for dysentery and used the powdered root for malignant ulcers, bad sores, bowel complaints, piles, female problems, and sore mouth. The Chickasaw Indians used the root as an astringent and tonic (D. E. Moerman 1998). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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| Key |
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| Name authority | Douglas ex Lindley: Edwards’s Bot. Reg. 15: plate 1302. 1830 , | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 226. 1753 , | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 91. | FNA vol. 8, p. 94. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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