Putnam Park Wildflowers


Flower ID: IMG_5863.JPG-05-30-2023
Flower name (scientific): Chelidonium majus Linnaeus PY: 1753. Pronunciation guide: (phonetic spelling) kel-ih-DOH-nee-um MAY-jus
Flower name (common): Celandine
Family name (common): Poppy
Family name (scientific): Papaveraceae
Scientific name origin:
     Genus: From the Greek cheilidon meaning swallow. One suggestion is that the flowers bloom at the time of the swallow's migratory arrival. Another suggestion, from folklore reported by Aristotle and others, that the sap of the plant was used by mother swallows to treat the eyes of their young.
    Specific epithet: Latin for larger, greater, or bigger.
Common name origin: From Latin chelidonia and taken from the Greek for swallow.
Flower description:
     Size: 0.5 to 0.8 inches (1.3 to 2.0 cm)
     Petal count: 4 typically, also 5
     Color: yellow
     Other: flower arrangement, Cluster-flat
Plant description:
     Size: 12 to 32 inches (30 to 81 cm)
     Stem hairy:
     Other:
Leaf description: attachment is alternate, type is compound
     Size:
     Color:
     Hairy:
     Other: Shape: leaf, pinnate-pinnatifid or bipinnatifid, leaflets (typically 5 and up to 9) ovate or obovate (IL)
Origin (native, introduced, invasive): Introduced, invasive/Restricted in Wisconsin
Status (common, uncommon, threatened, rare): Common
Bloom time (typical): May to August
Cycle (annual, biennial, perennial): Biennial/Perennial
Habitat: Woods, fields, thickets, roadsides, waste areas, moist to dry, semi shade to shade.
Fruit:
Seed:
Importance to wildlife:
Similar species (if any): Stylophorum diphyllum (Celandine Poppy) has a similar appearance to Chelidonium majus, but the former species has not been reported from Wisconsin, Minnesota or Iowa, but has been observed in Illinois and more southern and eastern states.
Ethnobotany: No recorded uses by tribes from Wisconsin. The Iroquois used the plant as a veterinary aid for pigs (Moerman, p. 154, 1998).
Latitude: 44.729553
Longitude: -91.911965
Altitude: 261.80
Distribution: In Wisconsin: (Barron, Columbia, Dane, Door, Dunn, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Jackson, Lafayette, Milwaukee, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Richland, Sauk, Sheboygan, Vernon, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha, Waupaca) Click here for distribution map
In US: (CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, TN, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV) Click here for distribution map
In Canada: (BC, MB, NB, NS, ON, PE, QC) Click here for distribution map
References:
Synonym(s):
Basionym: na
Homotypic Synonym(s):
Heterotypic Synonym(s):
Autonym: Chelidonium majus subsp. majus (The other infraspecific is Chelidonium majus subsp. grandiflorum (de Candolle) Printz which has not been recorded from North America.)
Wetland Status (NC): UPL
Wetland Status (MW): UPL