Filipendula rubra | |
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Filipendula rubra Inflorescence [1] | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Rosales |
Family: | Rosaceae |
Genus: | Filipendula |
Species: | F. rubra |
Binomial name | |
Filipendula rubra | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Filipendula rubra, also known as queen-of-the-prairie, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae native to the northeastern and central United States and southeastern Canada. [3] It prefers full sun or partial shade and moist soil, but tolerates drier soil in a shadier location. It grows tall and firm, and produces blooms that are tiny and pink above its ferny, pointy leaves. [4]
Of the numerous garden cultivars, 'Venusta' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [5] [6]
The species is native from Pennsylvania westward to Illinois, and north of Georgia. [7] However, F. rubra is fairly successful as an alien species in places such as Massachusetts, where it was first recorded in 1875 and is still found. [8] In many places where it is native, such as Indiana, and places where it is alien as well, F. rubra is a threatened species. [9]
The typical habitat of F. rubra is wetland plant communities, particularly calcareous fens, although it is occasionally found in spring seeps and wet prairies. Populations are generally small and widely separated from one another as a result of the rarity and smallness of calcareous fens. [10]
The plant is a spreading herbaceous perennial growing to 1.8–2.5 m (5 ft 11 in – 8 ft 2 in) tall by 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) wide. With large lobed leaves and branching red stems, it produces corymbs of deep pink or peach, sweet fragrant flowers in the summer. [11] Inflorescences of F. rubra are panicles possessing 200-1,000 small pink-petaled flowers on 1–2 m stems can have somewhere to 5,000 seeds. [10] The numerous stamens give the flower a fuzzy appearance. [12] Each flower has carpels that are free from one another, while also having five to 15 pistils. However, these seeds are small due to the large size of its clones yet when seeds are produced seedlings may fail to establish in large numbers. [13] The plant grows in an aggressive manner with its creeping roots. The foliage texture of the plant is coarse and the color ranges from a medium to dark green. [4]
Filipendula rubra is a perennial which grows up to 2.5 m (8 ft) by 1.3 m (4 ft 3in) at a medium rate. It is hardy to zone (UK) 2. It is in flower from July to August, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is self-fertile. The plant is pollinated by bees, flies, and beetles. The plant attracts wildlife.
Filipendula rubra is known for its air-borne pollen, however pollination is only effective (can create a seed) when pollen is transferred to a different plant, due to the fact that F. rubra is self-incompatible. The vast majority of pollen will be derived from inflorescences within the same clone and thus incompatible. Pollination is aided by insects such as sweat bees spreading pollen. [10]
Filipendula rubra is considered an endangered species by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina and it is considered threatened in Iowa and Michigan. [14]
Although Filipendula rubra is considered an endangered species by the USDA in several of the states that it is native to, it is not caused by animals who eat the plant, or any diseases that may infect a plant. [15] Rather, F. rubra is considered endangered or threatened because of its trouble pollinating. The process the plant has to go through in order to pollinate is more difficult than that of regular plants due to its inability to fertilize itself (explained further in the section above about pollination). [10] F. rubra is further endangered by habitat loss throughout much of its native distribution.
Native Americans have used the root of F. rubra in traditional medicine for treating heart problems and as an aphrodisiac. [16] The root has a high tannin content, making it useful as an astringent for treating diarrhea, dysentery, and bleeding. [17]
The plant is used in gardens for the aesthetically pleasing and fragrant flowers which smell like lilac. A good number of both native and conventional nurseries sell some, yet it is still an uncommon plant in most American gardens and landscapes. 'Venusta' is the most common cultivar that bears a good bright rose-pink color. It grows in full sun or part-shade and needs moist to draining wet soil; it suffers from drought. It sends up its sort of maple-like foliage early in spring. It spreads by rhizomes, underground stems, so it becomes a spreading clump that eventually becomes a mass. It is easy to dig up and reset like many perennials when it gets too big and crowded or spreads to much. It does self-sow some to a lot in gardens. If it starts to look poorly from drought, one can easily prune it down and it will grow back some to look better.
Although aesthetically appealing for humans, F. rubra, based on current knowledge of the plant's floral and faunal associations, offers comparatively little value to wildlife. [18] For instance, it is not a host plant for butterflies and native moths nor does it produce any nectar. Its magenta flowers are the color that typically draws butterflies but they will expend energy to get to the flowers and find no nectar. It competes for continually shrinking, due to human development, wetland acreage with plants that support more wildlife. Additionally, its seeds are not an important food source for birds or rodents. Herbivores do not find its foliage appealing. Its flowers are a source of food for insects that consume pollen. However, some sources say the plant mainly uses wind pollination, a pollination strategy that typically makes comparatively little pollen available for pollen-consuming insects. As a result, some conservationists suggest using this plant in aesthetics-oriented gardens but focusing more on other species for restoration work.
Canna or canna lily is the only genus of flowering plants in the family Cannaceae, consisting of 10 species. All of the genus's species are native to the American tropics and naturalized in Europe, India and Africa in the 1860s. Although they grow native to the tropics, most cultivars have been developed in temperate climates and are easy to grow in most countries of the world, as long as they receive at least 6–8 hours average sunlight during the summer, and are moved to a warm location for the winter. See the Canna cultivar gallery for photographs of Canna cultivars.
Lapageria is a genus of flowering plants with only one known species, Lapageria rosea, commonly known as Chilean bellflower or copihue. Lapageria rosea is endemic to Chile and it is the national flower of this country. It grows in forests in the southern part of Chile, being part of the Valdivian temperate rainforests ecoregion flora.
Sarracenia is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species of North American pitcher plants, commonly called trumpet pitchers. The genus belongs to the family Sarraceniaceae, which also contain the closely allied genera Darlingtonia and Heliamphora.
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae is a species of flowering plant in the aster family (Asteraceae) native to central and eastern North America. Commonly known as New England aster, hairy Michaelmas-daisy, or Michaelmas daisy, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant usually between 30 and 120 centimeters tall and 60 to 90 cm wide.
Filipendula is a genus of 12 species of perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the family Rosaceae, native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Well-known species include meadowsweet and dropwort, both native to Europe, and queen-of-the-forest and queen-of-the-prairie, native to North America.
Dicentra cucullaria, Dutchman's britches, or Dutchman's breeches, is a perennial herbaceous plant, native to rich woods of eastern North America, with a disjunct population in the Columbia Basin.
Uvularia grandiflora, the large-flowered bellwort or merrybells, is a species of flowering plant in the family Colchicaceae, native to eastern and central North America.
Mitella diphylla is a clump forming, open woodland plant native to northeast and midwest regions of North America.
Anemone hepatica, the common hepatica, liverwort, liverleaf, kidneywort, or pennywort, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to woodland in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. This herbaceous perennial grows from a rhizome.
Geum triflorum, commonly known as prairie smoke, old man's whiskers, torchflower, three-sisters, long-plumed purple avens, lion's beard, or three-flowered avens, is a spring-blooming perennial herbaceous plant of the Rosaceae family. It is a hemiboreal continental climate species that is widespread in colder and drier environments of western North America, although it does occur in isolated populations as far east as New York and Ontario. It is particularly known for the long feathery plumes on the seed heads that have inspired many of the regional common names and aid in wind dispersal of its seeds.
Phlox pilosa, the downy phlox or prairie phlox, is an herbaceous plant in the family Polemoniaceae. It is native to eastern North America, where it is found in open areas such as prairies and woodlands.
Liatris spicata, the dense blazing star, prairie feather, gayfeather or button snakewort, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to eastern North America where it grows in moist prairies and sedge meadows.
Plumeria rubra is a deciduous plant species belonging to the genus Plumeria. Originally native to Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela, it has been widely cultivated in subtropical and tropical climates worldwide and is a popular garden and park plant, as well as being used in temples and cemeteries. It grows as a spreading tree to 7–8 m (23–26 ft) high and wide, and is flushed with fragrant flowers of shades of pink, white and yellow over the summer and autumn.
Cypripedium candidum, known as the small white lady's slipper or white lady's slipper, is a rare orchid of the genus Cypripedium. It is native to eastern North America across the northern United States and southern Canada.
Pedicularis groenlandica is a showy flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae commonly known as elephant's head, little pink elephant, elephantella, or similar common names inspired by the resemblance of the flower to the head of an elephant. It is also less commonly known as butterfly tongue for the long beak on the flower. Like many other plants in genus Pedicularis, it is a parasitic plant and depends on host plants to survive.
Lilium occidentale is a rare North American species of lily known by the common name western lily. Its species name 'Occidentale' means 'westernmost' and refers to its location along the West Coast. It is native to northwestern California and southwestern Oregon. It grows in coastal prairie habitat, swamps and stagnant bogs with Drosera species, bluffs and sandy cliffs, and seaside spruce forests. This rare wildflower is limited in distribution and directly endangered by a number of environmental factors. It is a federally listed endangered species and it is listed as endangered by the states of California and Oregon.
Pulsatilla nuttalliana, known as American pasqueflower, prairie pasqueflower, prairie crocus, or simply pasqueflower, is a flowering plant native to much of North America, from the western side of Lake Michigan, to northern Canada in the Northwest Territories, south to New Mexico in the southwestern United States. Pasqueflower is the provincial flower of Manitoba and the state flower of South Dakota.
Verbascum phoeniceum, known as purple mullein, is a species of mullein that is part of the family Scrophulariaceae native to Central Europe, Central Asia and Western China. It is also naturalized in certain regions of the US and Canada. It successfully grows in USDA’s zones 4 to 8. It is a short-lived perennial species, and blooms earlier than other mullein species on average, producing vibrant purple-pink flowers; it can grow up to 1m or more.
Viscaria vulgaris, the sticky catchfly or clammy campion, is a flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae.
Penstemon ambiguus, commonly known as the bush penstemon, pink plains penstemon, or gilia beardtongue is a species of Penstemon that grows in the shortgrass prairies and deserts of the western United States and northern Mexico. This bush-like penstemon grows in sandy, loose, and creosote soils and is particularly known for the spectacular flowering show it produces, sometime seasons turning whole hillsides bright pink–white.
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