Biorepository Data Portal

Rhizomes 0.5-2 × 0.5-1.8 cm; bulbs 0.6-2.5 cm. Stems 1/4-1/3 floriferous, 0.6-2 m. Leaf blades linear, long-attenuate, 30-80 × 0.6-3.2 cm, apex acute. Inflorescences 1.3-8 dm; terminal raceme 1-2.6 dm; secondary racemes spreading to ascending, 0.2-1.1(-2.2) dm; tertiary racemes infrequent; bracts obovate to subulate, green to brown, 2-4(-6) mm, densely floccose abaxially and marginally. Tepals greenish yellow, aging dark reddish purple, ovate to obovate-oblong, 5.5-13 × 2.2-6 mm, base abruptly auriculate to hastate, clawed, margins entire, apex acute, claws 0.5-1.2(-2.5) mm; glands yellowish green, oblong to oblong-ovate, nectariferous; stamens 6.5-8.5 mm; filaments inserted at or above middle of claw, 0.7-2.5 mm from ovary base, not basally dilated, equaling tepal width at insertion point; anthers 0.9 mm; ovary ovoid, glabrous or pubescent; styles 1.5-3.5 mm; pedicel spreading to ascending, 5-20 mm. Capsules elliptic-ovoid, 10-18 × 6-10 mm, glabrous or glabrate. Seeds 5-8 × 2.5-4 mm (including wings). 2n = 16. Flowering late spring--summer. Bogs, marshes, wet woods, savannas, meadows, along railroads; 10--800 m; Ala., Ark., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Md., Miss., Mo., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Va., W.Va. The clawed tepals of Melanthium virginicum distinguish it from M. parviflorum and M. woodii, which have tepals with gradually attenuate bases.

Perennial herb with a thick rhizome flowering stem 0.6 - 2 m tall Leaves: basal, sheathing, elongate, to 0.8 m long and 3 cm wide, linear with a narrowed base and long-pointed tip. Flowers: greenish yellow, becoming dark reddish purple, with six clawed, spreading tepals that have a pair of yellowish green glands at the base. Fruit: a three-lobed ellipsoidal capsule, 1 - 1.5 cm wide. Seeds winged. Inflorescences: are large, hairy clusters (racemes) of both unisexual and bisexual flowers (polygamous). The terminal raceme is 10 - 26 cm long. The secondary racemes are spreading to ascending and 2 - 22 cm long.

Similar species: No information at this time.

Flowering: June to July

Habitat and ecology: Rare, probably extirpated from the Chicago Region. A single specimen was found in a low meadow along a railroad. Typical habitat is meadows and wet prairies.

Occurence in the Chicago region: native

Etymology: Melanthium comes from the Greek words melas, meaning black, and anthos, meaning flower, referring to the darkening of the flowers with age. Virginicum means "of or from Virginia."

Author: The Morton Arboretum

Stem stout, erect from a thick rhizome, 7-15 dm, hairy above; lvs linear, acuminate, the lower much elongate, often 3 dm, 1-2(-3) cm wide, narrowed at the base; panicle ovoid, 2-3 dm, hairy, its lower branches bearing a raceme of slender-pedicellate fls, the lower fls perfect, the upper staminate; tep spreading, pale green, 6-13 mm, the blade ca twice as long as the claw, flat, oblong or oval or obovate, obtuse, glandular at base; fr ellipsoid, 3-lobed, 10-15 mm; seeds 5-8 mm. Wet woods and meadows; N.Y. to Ind. and Minn., s. to Fla. and Tex. June, July. (Veratrum v.)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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