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 Leaves Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Leaves Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org |  Plant Paul Rothrock @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Plant Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Fruit Paul Rothrock @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Perennial
General Desc:
Aromatic perennial; stems erect, simple or branched; leaves oddly-pinnate; the leaflets thickly sprinkled with gland dots; flowers in dense, spike-like racemes, containing between 20 and 50 flowers. The root has a distinct licorice flavor.
Identification notes: Perennial, rhizomatous, looks like a large Astragalus, tall leafy stems; leaves have odd numbers of leaflets, 11 to 19; flowers whitish, in dense spike-like clusters, sepals longer than the flower tube; fruit are spiny, cocklebur-like seed pods.
Height:
12 to 40 inches
Habitat Description: Found on streambanks, riverbanks, and roadsides, in coniferous forests and meadows.
Plant Communities:
Montane Conifer Forest, Riparian, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 2000 - 7000 feet
Color:
White to cream-colored
Shape:
Irregular in elongated clusters
Tubular:
Y
Flowering Period:
May - Aug
Description:
Flowers crowded on terminal spike up to 8 inches long; sepals 5-cleft and longer than flower tube; upper lip 2-cleft, largest and angled upwards, the smaller wing and keel petals project outwards; each flower subtended by bract up to 1/4 inch long.
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Compound
Leaf Shape:
Pinnatifid
Leaf Margin:
Smooth
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Leaves and stems
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Stem is covered with minute, sticky hairs; leaves alternate and pinnately compound; 11 to 19 leaflets per leaf, oblong to lance-like; leaflets to 2 inches long, lower surface dotted with small glands.
Fruit Color: Brown
Fruit Type: Pod
Fruit Notes: Fruits are distinctive; green, oblong, spreading pods, 1/2 inch long, covered by stout, erect, hooked bristles (resembles a cocklebur), white at the base, often pink towards the tip. Pods become brown as they wither.
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