Caulophyllum thalictroides

Stems 2-9 dm. Leaves: 1st leaf (3-)4-ternate; 2d leaf (2-)3-ternate; leaflets 3-8 × 2-10 cm. Inflorescences with 5-70 flowers. Flowers: bracteoles 1-3 mm; sepals yellow, purple, green, 3-6 2-3 mm, apically revolute; petals 1-2.5 mm; stamen filaments 0.5-1.5 mm; pistil 1-3 mm; style 0.25-1 mm. 2 n = 16. Flowering late spring. Mesophytic forests; 0-1200 m; Man., N.B., Ont., Que.; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Mo., Nebr., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., N.Dak., Ohio, Pa., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis. Native Americans used various preparations of the root of Caulophyllum thalictroides medicinally to treat rheumatism, toothaches, profuse menstruation, indigestion and stomach cramps, fits and hysterics, genito-urinary disfunction, gallstones, and fever, as an aid in childbirth, and as a general tonic (D. E. Moermann 1986).

Perennial herb 20 cm - 0.9 m tall Stem: erect, grayish green, appearing as a stalk for the plant's single leaf. Flowers: borne five to 70 on a terminal inforescence 3 - 6 cm long, yellowish green or greenish purple, with three to four sepal-like bracts, six petal-like sepals 3 - 6 mm long and 2 - 3 mm wide, 0.1 - 0.7 mm styles, and six stamens. The petals are reduced to gland-like nectar-producing structures 1 - 2.5 mm long. Flowers open before leaves are fully expanded. Fruit: undeveloped because ovary is broken by the two developing seeds, exposing the short-stalked, naked seeds. The seeds are dark blue, 5 - 8 mm long, fleshy, and covered with a waxy whitish coating (glaucous). Leaflets: 5 - 8 cm long, 2 - 10 cm wide, oblong to inversely egg-shaped, two-to five-lobed near the tip, covered with a waxy whitish coating (glaucous) when young. Leaf: on a stalk dividing into three branches, with each branch dividing into three more branches and ending in three leaflets (triternate).

Similar species: Podophyllum peltatum lacks compound leaves, has a single drooping flower located between two leaves, and a yellow berry. Jeffersonia diphylla has leaves divided into two kidney-shaped segments, flowers borne solitary on a leafless stalk, and brownish capsule-like fruit .

Flowering: mid April to late May

Habitat and ecology: Locally common in mesic woods, most often growing on northeast-facing slopes.

Occurence in the Chicago region: native

Etymology: Caulophyllum comes from the Greek words kaulon, meaning stem, and phyllon, meaning leaf, suggesting that the stem appears to be a stalk for the highly branched compound leaf. Thalictroides refers to the resemblance of the leaves to Thalictrum.

Author: The Morton Arboretum

Erect, 3-8 dm, glaucous when young; lfls obovate- oblong, 2-5-lobed above the middle, 5-8 cm at maturity; infl a small, panicle-like or raceme-like cyme, 3-6 cm; fls yellowish-green or greenish-purple, the slender, spreading, somewhat twisted sep 1 cm; seeds bitter, dark blue, 5-8 mm, on stalks nearly as long; 2n=16. Rich, moist woods; N.B. to Ont. and Man., s. to S.C., Ala., and Mo. Apr., May. Some authors recognize 2 largely sympatric vars. Var. thalictroides has variously yellow, purple or green sep mostly 4-5 mm. Var. giganteum Farw. blooms 2 weeks earlier and has fewer fls larger in all parts, the consistently purple sep 6-8 mm. (C. g.)

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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