Agrimonia pubescens explained

Agrimonia pubescens, the soft agrimony or downy agrimony, is a flowering plant in the genus Agrimonia, a member of the rose family. It grows in dry areas and woodlands.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by John Torrey and Asa Gray as Agrimonia eupatoria var. mollis. It was raised to a species by Nathaniel Lord Britton after the description by Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Wallroth.[1]

Description

Agrimonia pubescens is an erect perennial, growing upwards of 40inches tall. It has erect and canescent or pubescent stems. The five to thirteen leaflets are oblong and dentate, and pinnately divided once. The leaves are lanceolate, with the terminal leaflet being the largest, measuring NaNinches long and NaNinches wide. The leaflets increase in size as they approach the top of the compound leaf. At the base of each petiole is oval-shaped stipule with a serrated margin, measuring approximately 0.75inches long and 0.38inches wide.[2] The yellow flowers are borne on spike-like racemes. Each flower is NaNinches wide with five yellow petals and five to ten stamens. The five sparsely pubescent sepals alternate with the petals. The small flowers and conical fruit have short pedicels. The seeds have hook-like projections and are clustered in a bell-like shape.[3] The glabrous calyx measures 0.08inches while fruiting.[4]

The plant flowers from July through September.[5]

Range

Agrimonia pubescens is found predominantly found in the United States, east of the Mississippi River.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Book: 327 . Contributions from the New York Botanical Garden . The New Era Printing Company . New York Botanical Garden . 1915 . 7.
  2. Web site: Agrimonia pubescens (Downy Agrimony) . Minnesota Wildflowers . 12 September 2018 . 2018 .
  3. Book: 165 . Wildflowers of Wisconsin and the Great Lakes Region: A Comprehensive Field Guide . Merel R. Black, Emmet J. Judziewicz . illustrated . University of Wisconsin Press . 2009 . 9780299230548.
  4. Book: 221 . New or Noteworthy North American Phanerograms . Nathaniel Lord Britton . Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club . Torrey Botanical Club . 19 . 1892.
  5. Book: 310 . Vascular Flora of Illinois: A Field Guide . Fourth . Robert H. Mohlenbrock . SIU Press . 2013 . 9780809332090.
  6. Web site: Downy Agrimony Agrimonia pubescens . inaturalist.org . 3 July 2024.