Black Snakeroot

(Sanicula marilandica)

 

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Black Snakeroot (Sanicula marilandica)

Identification: Flowers greenish white, arranged in small clusters. Resemblance to a umbel vague to non-existent. Group of flower clusters with a cluster of leaflike bracts at the base of the flower stem. Plant stem thin, green, smooth. Leaves divided into leaflets arranged in a hand-shaped grouping. Number of leaflets variable, usually 5, although lower leaflets may be cleft. Plant 1 to 4 feet in height.

Distribution: Throughout most of North America, but absent from most of the Pacific Coast and Texas.

Habitat: Black Snakeroot is found in open woods and old fields.

Flowering period: May to July.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

Black Snakeroot (Sanicula marilandica)

Similar Species:

The small clusters of flowers and the palmate leaves are distinctive for the genus Sanicula. The genus Sanicula contains a number of very similar species in the east. These species can sometimes be separated only on technical characters.

Similar Species

No Similar Species