Heuchera sanguinea |
Heuchera americana |
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coralbells |
alumroot, American alum-root, common alum-root |
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Habit | Herbs acaulescent; caudex branched. | Herbs acaulescent; caudex branched. | ||||||||
Flowering stems | 20–40 cm, short and sometimes long stipitate-glandular. |
leafy, 40–145 cm, glabrous or short stipitate-glandular. |
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Leaves | petiole long stipitate-glandular; blade reniform to orbiculate, shallowly 5–7-lobed, 2–5.5 cm, base cordate, lobes rounded, margins dentate, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces long stipitate-glandular on veins abaxially, glabrous or sparsely long stipitate-glandular adaxially. |
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 | moderately dense to diffuse. |
diffuse. |
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Flowers | hypanthium weakly bilaterally to radially symmetric, free 2.5–2.8 mm, dark pink to red, broadly campanulate or urceolate, 4–8 mm, short stipitate-glandular proximally, sparsely long stipitate-glandular distally; sepals spreading, darker red-tipped, equal, 2–3 mm, apex oblong or rounded; petals spreading, pink or cream, narrowly oblanceolate, unlobed, 1.2–1.8 mm (shorter than sepals), margins entire; stamens included 1.5–3 mm; styles included 1.5–3 mm, 1.5–2 mm, 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, 4.5–6 mm, beaks divergent, not papillose. |
ovoid, 4–10.5 mm, beaks divergent, not papillose. |
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Seeds | dark brown, ellipsoid, 0.5–0.6 mm, bluntly spiny. |
dark brown, ellipsoid, 0.6–0.9 mm. |
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Heuchera sanguinea |
Heuchera americana |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Oct. | |||||||||
Habitat | Moist, shaded rocks | |||||||||
Elevation | 1200-2600 m (3900-8500 ft) | |||||||||
Distribution |
AZ; NM; Mexico (Chihuahua)
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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 | Heuchera sanguinea occurs in the southwestern United States and northern Chihuahua, Mexico, and is widely cultivated throughout the cooler parts of North America. Heuchera sanguinea varies considerably within populations in shape, lobing, and size of leaves, in amount of hairs, and in shape, form, and color of flowers. Rydberg recognized var. pulchra as characterized by denser inflorescences and longer hairs on its pedicels, inferior part of the ovary, and sepals. Mixed populations with individuals bearing longer and shorter hairs can be found throughout the range of the species, especially in Arizona. It seems best to recognize H. sanguinea as a variable species without infraspecific taxa. (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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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 100. | FNA vol. 8, p. 94. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Saxifragaceae > Heuchera | Saxifragaceae > Heuchera | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Synonyms | H. sanguinea var. pulchra | |||||||||
Name authority | Engelmann: in F. A. Wislizenus, Mem. Tour N. Mexico, 107. 1848 , | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 226. 1753 , | ||||||||
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