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NC Native Plant Society:
Plant Details

Thalictrum cooleyi

Cooley's Meadowrue, Savanna Meadowrue.

Scientific Name:

Thalictrum cooleyi

Genus:

Thalictrum

Species Epithet:

cooleyi

Common Name:

Cooley's Meadowrue, Savanna Meadowrue.

Plant Type

Herb/Wildflower

Life Cycle

Perennial

Plant Family

Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family)

Native/Alien:

NC Native

Size:

0-1 ft., 1-3 ft., 3-6 ft.

Bloom Color(s):

White, Yellow, Brown

Light:

Sun - 6 or more hours of sun per day

Soil Moisture:

Moist

Bloom Time:

June, July

Growing Area:

Coastal Plain

Habitat Description:

Ecotones between calcareous savannas and adjacent swamp forests, shallowly underlain by coquina limestone (“marl”), generally within a few meters of both Taxodium ascendens and Liriodendron tulipifera. The species is endemic to two small areas, centered around Maple Hill (Pender and Onslow counties, NC) and Old Dock (Columbus and Brunswick counties, NC). Rare in NC Coastal Plain.

Leaf Arrangement:

Opposite

Leaf Retention:

Deciduous

Leaf Type:

Leaves veined, not needle-like or scale-like

Leaf Form:

Compound

Life Cycle:

Perennial

Wildlife Value:

Has some wildlife value

Landscape Value:

Suitable for home landscapes

State Rank:

S1: Critically imperiled (*Key)

Global Rank:

G1 - Critically imperiled (*Key)

State Status:

E: Endangered (*Key)

Federal Status:

E - Endangered (*Key)

Flower

Cooley's meadowrue is endemic to the coastal plain in the southeastern United States. This plant occurs in fire-dependent web bogs and savannas. The main causes for the decline of the species can be attributed to fire suppression and loss of habitat due to agricultural/silvicultural practices. - Center for Plant Conservation

image

© Chuck Carmack

Male flower

Male and female flowers are on separate plants. "This is contributing to the plant's rarity, because most of the remaining populations have a 3 to 1 ratio of male to female plants, leading to reproductive and genetic problems. An extreme instance is in one site in North Carolina, where no male plants had been found at the site in 8 years (Leonard 1987)" - Center for Plant Conservation

image

© Chuck Carmack

Links:

USDA PLANTS Database Record

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Flora of North America



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