Aruncus dioicus

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Aruncus dioicus
Aruncus dioicus 1549.JPG
Inflorescence
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Aruncus
Species:
A. dioicus
Binomial name
Aruncus dioicus
(Walter) Fernald

Aruncus dioicus, known as goat's beard, buck's-beard [1] or bride's feathers, is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the family Rosaceae, found in Europe, Asia, and eastern and western North America. It is the type species of the genus Aruncus . It has alternate, pinnately compound leaves, on thin, stiff stems, with plumes of feathery white or cream flowers borne in summer.

Contents

The Latin specific epithet dioicus means "having the male reproductive organs on one plant, and the female on another". [2]

Description

The leaves are alternate and pinnately compound. Leaflets are sharply compoundly-serrate. Aruncus dioicus 6690.JPG
The leaves are alternate and pinnately compound. Leaflets are sharply compoundly-serrate.

The species is from 1.2 to 1.8 metres (4 to 6 ft) tall, with compound leaves consisting of 3 or 5 leaflets. Very small, 5-petaled white or cream flowers are displayed in showy panicles, blooming in late spring to early summer. Male and female flowers are borne on different plants. [3] The flower spikes rise high above the plant, adding to the showiness of the species. Plants with male flowers have a showier bloom than the ones with female flowers. [4]

Varieties

Distribution and Habitat

This plant can be found in moist woodland, often at higher altitudes, throughout temperate areas of Europe, Asia, and eastern and western North America. In the UK it is considered suitable for planting in and around water areas, [6] and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [7] [8] Goat's beard prefers humus-rich soil and shade or partial shade. It can be grown in full sun if it has consistent moisture.

Ecology

Aruncus dioicus is the host plant for the dusky azure butterfly. [9]

Uses

In Italy the young shoots are eaten, usually boiled briefly in herb infused water, and then cooked with eggs and cheese. In Friuli it is one of the ingredients in the local home-made soup based on wild greens called 'pistic'. [10]

Aruncus dioicus var. kamtschaticus has shown potent cytotoxicity against Jurkat T cells. [11]

Native Americans in the Northwest used the plant medicinally as a diuretic, as a poultice, and to treat blood diseases, smallpox, and sore throats. [12]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Sorbaria sorbifolia</i> Species of plant in the family Rosaceae

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<i>Hydrangea serrata</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae

Hydrangea serrata is a species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae, native to mountainous regions of Korea and Japan. Common names include mountain hydrangea and tea of heaven. Growing to 1.2 m (4 ft) tall and broad, it is a deciduous shrub with oval leaves and panicles of blue and pink flowers in summer and autumn (fall). It is widely cultivated as an attractive ornamental shrub throughout the world in areas with suitable climate and soil.

<i>Clematis aristata</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Clematis aristata, known as Australian clematis, wild clematis, goat's beard or old man's beard, is a climbing shrub of the family Ranunculaceae, found in eastern Australia in dry and wet forests of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. In spring to early summer it produces mass displays of attractive star-shaped flowers usually borne in short panicles with each flower up to 70 mm diameter and possessing four narrow white or cream tepals. Fertile male and female reproductive structures occur in flowers of separate plants (dioecy) making this species an obligate outcrosser with pollen movement among plants most likely facilitated by insects. Each seed head on female plants consists of multiple achenes with each seed bearing a plumose awn 2–4.5 cm long promoting dispersal by wind.

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<i>Heliopsis helianthoides</i> Species of flowering plant

Heliopsis helianthoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, known by the common names rough oxeye, smooth oxeye and false sunflower. It is native to eastern and central North America from Saskatchewan east to Newfoundland and south as far as Texas, New Mexico, and Georgia.

<i>Trachelospermum asiaticum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trachelospermum asiaticum, the Asiatic jasmine, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae and it is native to Asia. Its flowers resemble stars, so it is also referred to as yellow star jasmine or Asian star jasmine. This is a fast growing evergreen vine, often used to cover fences, walls, and similar surfaces. It is heat- and cold- tolerant, and grows even in shady areas.

<i>Nematus spiraeae</i> Species of sawfly

Nematus spiraeae is a species of sawfly in the family Tenthredinidae, known as the aruncus sawfly and sometimes the spiraea sawfly. It is native to central and northern Europe and was first recorded in Britain in 1924. Its larvae feed on the leaves of goat's beard.

<i>Aruncus sylvester</i> Species of plant in the genus Aruncus

Aruncus sylvester, the goat's beard, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae, found from the Himalayas to the Russian Far East and Japan. As its synonym Aruncus aethusifolius it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

References

  1. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for Gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. ISBN   978-1845337315.
  3. Denison, Edgar (2017). Missouri Wildflowers (Sixth ed.). Conservation Commission of the State of Missouri. p. 29. ISBN   978-1-887247-59-7.
  4. "Aruncus dioicus - Plant Finder". www.missouribotanicalgarden.org.
  5. English Names for Korean Native Plants (PDF). Pocheon: Korea National Arboretum. 2015. p. 362. ISBN   978-89-97450-98-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2016 via Korea Forest Service.
  6. BS 7370-5 Recommendations for maintenance of water areas
  7. "RHS Plant Selector - Aruncus dioicus" . Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  8. "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 8. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  9. Robinson, Gaden S.; Ackery, Phillip R.; Kitching, Ian; Beccaloni, George W.; Hernández, Luis M. (2023). "HOSTS - The Hostplants and Caterpillars Database at the Natural History Museum". www.nhm.ac.uk. doi:10.5519/havt50xw.
  10. Ghirardini, M.; Carli, M.; Del Vecchio, N.; Rovati, A.; Cova, O.; Valigi, F.; Agnetti, G.; MacConi, M.; Adamo, D.; Traina, M.; Laudini, F.; Marcheselli, I.; Caruso, N.; Gedda, T.; Donati, F.; Marzadro, A.; Russi, P.; Spaggiari, C.; Bianco, M.; Binda, R.; Barattieri, E.; Tognacci, A.; Girardo, M.; Vaschetti, L.; Caprino, P.; Sesti, E.; Andreozzi, G.; Coletto, E.; Belzer, G.; Pieroni, A. (2007). "The importance of a taste. A comparative study on wild food plant consumption in twenty-one local communities in Italy". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 3: 22. doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-3-22 . PMC   1877798 . PMID   17480214.
  11. Jeong, S. Y.; Jun, D. Y.; Kim, Y. H.; Min, B. S.; Min, B. K.; Woo, M. H. (2011). "Monoterpenoids from the aerial parts of Aruncus dioicus var. Kamtschaticus and their antioxidant and cytotoxic activities". Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 21 (11): 3252–3256. doi:10.1016/j.bmcl.2011.04.043. PMID   21546250.
  12. Fagan, Damian (2019). Wildflowers of Oregon: A Field Guide to Over 400 Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs of the Coast, Cascades, and High Desert. Guilford, CT: FalconGuides. p. 81. ISBN   978-1-4930-3633-2. OCLC   1073035766.