Macleaya cordata

(Willdenow) R. Brown in D. Denham and H. Clapperton

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.

"wide" is not a number.

... more about "Macleaya cordata"
(Willdenow) R. Brown in D. Denham and H. Clapperton +
Bocconia cordata +
palmate +  and subpalmate +
7-9-lobed +  and ovate-cordate +
2-valved +  and substipitate +
compressed +  and oblanceoloid +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
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 +
sessile +, pedicellate +  and symmetric +
transverse +, poricidal +, valvate +  and dehiscence +
Deciduous woods, thickets, old fields, ditches, roadsides, pond margins, and along watercourses +
terminal +  and axillary +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
cauline +  and basal +
substipitate +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
distinct +
obovate +
2 times number of sepals +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (20 cm200 mm <br />0.2 m <br />) +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
Flowering summer. +
in D. Denham and H. Clapperton, Narr. Travels Africa, app., +
dark-brown +
white;cream colored +
distinct +
spatulate +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
Illustrated +  and Introduced +
25 +  and 30 +
branching +  and simple +
decumbent +, spreading +  and erect +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
Macleaya cordata +
Macleaya +
species +