Thermopsis villosa |
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Aaron's rod, Blue Ridge false lupine |
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Habit | Herbs 6–18 dm, glabrate (except racemes densely villous). |
Stems | thick, erect, solitary or clustered, few-branched, from woody rootstock; branches spreading at 45–60º, moderately zigzag. |
Leaves | stipules persistent, elliptic to ovate, 1.5–4.5 × 0.9–2.4 cm, base oblique to cuneate, apex acute to obtuse; petiole 2–5(–6) cm; leaflet blades elliptic, 4–9.5 × 1.8–4.4 cm, lateral veins 6–8 pairs, conspicuously net-veined abaxially, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces sparsely villous abaxially, glabrate adaxially. |
Racemes | 10–50-flowered, 15–50 cm; flowers in whorls of 2 or 3 or scattered. |
Peduncles | 6–13 cm; bracts deciduous, widely ovate to widely obovate, 5–7 × 5–6(–8) mm. |
Pedicels | 2–3 mm, densely villous. |
Flowers | 1.7–1.9 cm; calyx 7–8 × 5–6.5 mm at limb, lobes 2–3 mm, much shorter than tube; wing and keel petals asymmetrically oblong-rhombic; ovary velutinous; ovules 12–16. |
Legumes | ascending, straight to slightly arcuate, 4–5.5 × 0.4–0.6 cm, densely tomentose to villous. |
Seeds | 7–12, olive brown, elliptic, 3–3.5 × 1.8–2 mm, beaked. |
2n | = 18. |
Thermopsis villosa |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Jun(–Jul). |
Habitat | Open areas of deciduous oak woodlands. |
Elevation | 1000–1600 m. (3300–5200 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; CT; GA; MA; MD; ME; NC; NH; NJ; NY; PA; SC; TN; VA; VT
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Discussion | Thermopsis villosa is a distinctive, stiffly erect species of the southern Appalachian ridges and upper valleys. Locally naturalized populations occur where the species has been cultivated farther north. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Sophora villosa, Baptisia villosa, T. caroliniana |
Name authority | (Walter) Fernald & B. G. Schubert: Rhodora 50: 201. (1948) |
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