Tiarella trifoliata
Encyclopedia
Tiarella trifoliata is a dicot in the family Saxifragaceae
. It is a perennial
herb
that grows in the late spring. It is endemic to the low to moderate elevation moist forests of western North America
.
The flower
s are bell-shaped, white, solitary from an elongate, leafless panicle
. The calyx lobes are 1.5–2.5 mm and petals are 3–4 mm. Basal leaves
are 15–80 mm long and up to 120 mm wide, trifoliate or palmately 3- to 5-lobed. Cauline leaves are infrequent and much smaller.
There are three varieties
of T. trifoliata:
Saxifragaceae
Saxifragaceae is a plant family with about 460 known species in 36 genera. In Europe there are 12 genera.The flowers are hermaphroditic and actinomorphic...
. It is a perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
herb
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
that grows in the late spring. It is endemic to the low to moderate elevation moist forests of western North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are bell-shaped, white, solitary from an elongate, leafless panicle
Panicle
A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....
. The calyx lobes are 1.5–2.5 mm and petals are 3–4 mm. Basal leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are 15–80 mm long and up to 120 mm wide, trifoliate or palmately 3- to 5-lobed. Cauline leaves are infrequent and much smaller.
There are three varieties
Variety (biology)
In botanical nomenclature, variety is a taxonomic rank below that of species: as such, it gets a three-part infraspecific name....
of T. trifoliata:
- T. trifoliata var. trifoliata, which has leaves that are irregularly lobed, with coarse teeth.
- T. trifoliata var. unifoliata, which has simple leavesLeaf shapeIn botany, leaf shape is characterised with the following terms :* Acicular : Slender and pointed, needle-like* Acuminate : Tapering to a long point...
. - T. trifoliata var. laciniata, which is confined in its range from Washington only as far north as Vancouver IslandVancouver IslandVancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
, and has deeply lobed leaves.