2. Sanicula odorata (Raf.) Pryer & Phillippe (cluster-sanicle)
S. gregaria E.P. Bicknell
Pl. 211 f; Map
880
Plants
perennial, with relatively slender, fibrous roots. Stems 20–80 cm long. Leaf
blades 2–12 cm long, deeply palmately 3- or 5(7)-lobed and/or compound.
Involucre with the bracts 8–40 mm long. Rays 1–6 cm long. Umbellets with a
mixture of staminate and pistillate flowers or more commonly some of the
umbellets all staminate, the staminate flowers mostly 12–25 per umbellet.
Sepals 0.4–0.7 mm long, fused in the basal third, triangular, with the tip
narrowed to a short, usually blunt point. Petals yellowish green, longer than
the sepals. Stamens with the anthers yellow. Styles noticeably longer than the
bristles of the fruit, up to twice as long as the sepals. Fruits 3–5 mm long,
the stalks 0.5–1.0 mm long. 2n=16. April–June.
Scattered nearly
throughout the state (eastern U.S. west to North Dakota and Texas; Canada).
Bottomland forests, mesic upland forests, and banks of streams and rivers.
Phillippe (1978)
and Pryer and Phillippe (1989) discussed the rationale for adopting the epithet
S. odorata for this species. Earlier authors (Shan and Constance, 1951)
had considered the name, as originally described, to be of ambiguous
application, apparently compiled from elements of several other species, and
had urged that it be rejected as a source of confusion. Phillippe (1978) and
Pryer and Phillippe (1989) combined historical research and a process of
elimination to conclude that the name can only apply to the taxon otherwise
known as S. gregaria, and their arguments are accepted here.
Shan and
Constance (1951) mapped an occurrence of S. marilandica L. (black
snakeroot) from northeastern Missouri but failed to cite a specimen to support
their record. Although Gleason and Cronquist (1991) accepted this literature
report, Steyermark (1963) did not mention the species as occurring in Missouri.
No specimens to support its occurrence were discovered during the present
study, nor were any located by Phillippe (1978) in his dissertation research on
the genus. Although it has been excluded from the flora for the present, this
widespread species eventually may be found in northern Missouri, as it is known
to grow in adjacent portions of Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska. Sanicula
marilandica is similar to S. odorata in having long styles and relatively
numerous staminate flowers, but it differs in having sepals 1.0–1.5 long,
narrowly lanceolate, with the tip tapered to a sharp point; stamens with the
anthers greenish white; and petals white to greenish white.