Taxonomy
Family: Adoxaceae
Habitat
Dry, calcareous woods, talus slopes, pavement barrens.
Associates
Distribution
VT to Manitoba, south to NJ, OH, and MO. Variety affine (Bush) House ranges a little further west and tends to have more glabrous lower leaf surfaces.
Morphology
Deciduous shrub to 1.5 m. Leaves ovate-lanceolate to subrotund, 3-7 cm, softly stellate on the surfaces beneath, acuminate or acute, obtuse to subcordate at the base, coarsely serrate, the teeth mostly 6-10 on each side; petioles usually with linear stipules; cymes 4-7-rayed, sessile or on peduncles to 6 cm; stylopodium glabrous; fruit blue-black, flat-ellipsoid, 6-8 mm; stones flattened.
Notes
Flowers May to early June
Wetland indicator: UPL
Similar to V. dentata but has more slender leaves that are pubescent on the lower leaf surfaces (var, rafinesquianum) and less pronounced marginal teeth. The stone of the fruit is also more flattened.
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of
Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Michael Hough © 2018 |