Macleaya cordata

(Willdenow) R. Brown

in D. Denham and H. Clapperton, Narr. Travels Africa, app., 218. 1826.

IllustratedIntroduced
Basionym: Bocconia cordata Willdenow Sp. Pl. 2(2): 841. 1799
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 3.

Plants to 25 dm. Stems simple or branching distally. Leaves 10-30 cm long and wide; petiole 2-15(-20) cm; blade broadly ovate-cordate, 7-9-lobed; margins irregularly and coarsely toothed; abaxial surface usually whitish and densely short-pubescent, adaxial glabrous. Inflorescences to 30 cm or more. Flowers: pedicels 4-10 mm; sepals white to cream colored, spatulate, 5-10 mm; style to ca. 1 mm. Capsules oblanceoloid, strongly compressed, 15-20 mm, glabrous. Seeds dark brown, reticulate. 2n = 20.


Phenology: Flowering summer.
Habitat: Deciduous woods, thickets, old fields, ditches, roadsides, pond margins, and along watercourses
Elevation: 0-800 m

Distribution

V3 1006-distribution-map.gif

Introduced; Ont., Que., Ala., Conn., Ill., Ind., Maine, Mass., Mich., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., Va., W.Va., e Asia.

Discussion

A garden perennial esteemed for its vegetative features and large, plumelike inflorescence, Macleaya cordata occasionally escapes from cultivation, persisting and reproducing fairly successfully. It might be found almost anywhere in temperate North America east of the Mississippi River at elevations below 1000 m.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Macleaya cordata"
(Willdenow) R. Brown +
Bocconia cordata +
Ont. +, Que. +, Ala. +, Conn. +, Ill. +, Ind. +, Maine +, Mass. +, Mich. +, N.J. +, N.Y. +, N.C. +, Ohio +, Pa. +, Va. +, W.Va. +  and e Asia. +
0-800 m +
Deciduous woods, thickets, old fields, ditches, roadsides, pond margins, and along watercourses +
Flowering summer. +
in D. Denham and H. Clapperton, Narr. Travels Africa, app., +
Illustrated +  and Introduced +
Macleaya cordata +
Macleaya +
species +