Putnam Park Wildflowers


Flower ID: IMG_1552.JPG-06-12-2022
Flower name (scientific): Heuchera richardsonii Robert Brown PY: 1823. Pronunciation guide: (phonetic spelling) HEW-ker-ah rich-ard-SON-ee
Flower name (common): Prairie Alumroot
Family name (common): Saxifrage
Family name (scientific): Saxifragaceae
Scientific name origin:
     Genus: Named to honor the Austrian born German physician and botanist Johann Heinrich von Heucher (1677 – 1747).
    Specific epithet: Named for the Scottish surgeon and naturalist John Richardson (1787 – 1865).
Common name origin: From its typical habitat and for various plants with an astringent root, particulalrly in the genus Heuchera.
Flower description:
     Size: 0.3 to 0.5 inches (8 to 13 mm) long
     Petal count: 5
     Color: green or white
     Other: flower arrangement, Panicle
Plant description:
     Size: 12 to 36 inches (30 to 91 cm)
     Stem hairy: Flowering stems densely hairy, with hairs having glandular tips.
     Other:
Leaf description: attachment is basal, type is simple and lobed, blade broadly ovate or cordate, roughly orbicular.
     Size: Leaves up to about 10 to 12 cm long and about the same wide.
     Color: medium green
     Hairy: upper surface glabrous to sparsely hairy, lower surface densely hairy particularly along veins.
     Other: Shape: leaf, broadly ovate or cordate, deeply 5 to 7 lobed (FNA), orbicular or slightly cordate (IL)
Origin (native, introduced, invasive): Native
Status (common, uncommon, threatened, rare): Uncommon
Bloom time (typical): June to July
Cycle (annual, biennial, perennial): Perennial
Habitat: Woods, prairies, dry to moist, sandy or rocky soil, semi shade to sun.
Fruit: Capsules are about 7 to 14 mm in length.
Seed: Dark brown colored about 0.6 to 0.9 mm in length.
Importance to wildlife: Click for pollinator information on this flower.
Similar species (if any): Heuchera americana and Heuchera parviflora are similar, however neither of these two species have been recorded in Wisconsin or Minnesota. Both these species are native in more southern to south-eastern US states.
Ethnobotany: No recorded uses by tribes in Wisconsin. The Blackfoot, Cree, and Lakota each prepared an antidiarrheal from this plant (Moerman, pp. 265, 1998).
Latitude: 44.799902
Longitude: -91.506110
Altitude: 244.80
Distribution: In Wisconsin: (Adams, Barron, Bayfield, Brown, Buffalo, Burnett, Chippewa, Clark, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Florence, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, La Crosse, Lafayette, Lincoln, Marathon, Marinette, Marquette, Menominee, Milwaukee, Monroe, Oconto, Outagamie, Pierce, Polk, Portage, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Sawyer, Shawano, Sheboygan, St. Croix, Taylor, Trempealeau, Vernon, Walworth, Washburn, Washington, Waukesha, Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago, Wood) Click here for distribution map
In US: (CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, OK, SD, WI, WY) Click here for distribution map
In Canada: (AB, BC, MB, NT, ON, SK) Click here for distribution map
References:
Synonym(s):
Basionym: na
Homotypic Synonym(s): POWO lists 2 homotypic synonyms for this species.
Heterotypic Synonym(s): POWO lists 3 heterotypic synonyms for this species.
Autonym: na
Wetland Status (NC): FACU
Wetland Status (MW): FACU