Thalictrum venulosum (Veiny Meadow Rue) - photos and description


Male flowers in above photo.


Male flowers in above photo.


Female flowers in above photo.


Female flowers in above photo. 


Leaflets mostly wider than long. 

General: Upright perennials, little branched, rhizomatous. Plants nearly glabrous. Stems hollow.

Flowers: Plants unisexual, with flowers of different sexes on different plants. Flowers grow in panicles, the male flowers pendant. The male and female flowers vary in colour from white to reddish-purple.

Leaves: Leaves alternate, twice-divided giving three sets of three leaflets per leaf. Leaflets three-lobed and round toothed. Leaflets glabrous to thinly hairy below. Leaflets often bluish-green in colour. End leaflet measured at 2 cm long by 2.5 cm wide.

Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 200 cm, we measured plants to 104 cm tall.

Habitat: Woodlands across the province.

Abundance: Common.

Origin: Native.

Similar species: This plant might be confused with Thalictrum dasycarpum. To distinguish between the two:

- Length to width ratio of leaflets. The leaflets of T. dasycarpum are longer than wide, leaflets of T. venulosum are wider than long.

- Hairiness of bottom of leaflets. The leaflets of T. dasycarpum are puberulent, leaflets of T. venulosum are almost glabrous.

When and where photographed: Photo taken June 4th and 5th, aspen woods, Qu'Appelle Valley, 30 km north of Regina, SK, and, June 19th, Cypress Hills, 425 km southwest of our home in Regina, SK.