Flora of North America species comparison

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Poterium sanguisorba

Poterium sanguisorba var. polygamum

fodder burnet, garden burnet, small burnet
Photo is of parent taxon

burnet bloodwort, fodder burnet, garden burnet, salad burnet, sanguisorbe mineure, small burnet
Leaves

stipules of basal leaves simple, lanceolate, margins entire, those of cauline lanceolate to ovate, coarsely serrate;

petiole longer than blade in basal and proximal cauline leaves, to shorter than proximal rachis segment in distal cauline ones;

leaflets 2–12 pairs, proximally alternate, subopposite, or opposite, distally subopposite or opposite, margins coarsely serrate, surfaces glabrous or sparsely pilose.
Spikes

subglobose to ovoid, 0.3–2.5 × 0.3–2 cm;

peduncles glabrous or sparsely loosely villous;

bracteoles ovate, equal to hypanthia, ciliate.
Flowers

generally gynomonoecious, bisexual flowers proximal and pistillate distal (rarely some spikes completely pistillate or completely bisexual);

hypanthium broadly ellipsoid;

sepals green to purple, margins scarious, apex acute to apiculate with tufts of trichomes;

filaments filiform, equal to sepals.
Achenes

enclosed within broadly ellipsoid hypanthia 4 mm, 4-sided, angles winged, surfaces irregularly reticulately ridged, ridges sometimes also muricate.
2n

= 28, 56.

Poterium sanguisorba

Poterium sanguisorba var. polygamum
Phenology Flowering May–Aug; fruiting Jul–Oct.
Habitat Open disturbed areas, pastures, roadsides, woodland edges, along railroad rights-of-way, some preference for calcareous soil
Elevation 0–2700 m (0–8900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DE; ID; IL; IN; MA; MD; MI; MT; NC; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WV; WY; BC; NS; ON; QC; Europe; w Asia; n Africa [Introduced also in s South America, Australia]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DE; ID; IL; IN; MA; MD; MI; MT; NC; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WV; WY; BC; NS; ON; QC; Europe; w Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Australia]
Discussion

Varieties 5 (1 in the flora).

The Poterium sanguisorba complex has been treated in various and complex ways in Europe; a consensus has not emerged as to the number of species or infraspecific taxa to be recognized.

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

All North American plants of Poterium belong to var. polygamum. This taxon has also been reported for New Brunswick; this is unconfirmed, but certainly plausible. Reports for North America of Sanguisorba minor or P. sanguisorba refer to that in a broad sense, not distinguishing the varieties or subspecies variously recognized, and do not imply the occurrence of the typical infrataxon in North America. It is possible that the typical variety (or other infrataxa, as defined in the European literature) is present in North America. The other infrataxa differ primarily in details of the ornamentation of the hypanthium, with either more or less pronounced wings, differences in the roundedness or acuteness of the wings, and variations in the reticulate patterns between the wings; refer to the European literature to identify material suspected of belonging to other infrataxa.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 9, p. 318. FNA vol. 9, p. 318.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Agrimonieae > Poterium Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Agrimonieae > Poterium > Poterium sanguisorba
Subordinate taxa
P. sanguisorba var. polygamum
Synonyms Sanguisorba minor P. polygamum, P. balearicum, P. sanguisorba subsp. muricatum, Sanguisorba minor subsp. balearica, S. minor subsp. muricata
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 994. (1753) (Waldstein & Kitaibel) Visiani: Fl. Dalmat. 3: 255. (1851)
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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