Thalictrum sparsiflorum

Few flowered meadow rue

Family: Ranunculaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Few flowered meadow rue is a California native perennial found in the northern California Ranges, northern and central Sierra Nevada, San Bernardo Mountains, San Jacinto Mountains, and eastern Sierra Nevada in moist places and streambanks within conifer forests at elevations of 1,400 to 3,500 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces delicate white flowers with 10 to 20 stamens in loose panicle inflorescences. Growing with tall stems 60 to 180 centimeters high, it develops a robust and graceful structure with leaf-like bracts. Its leaves are complex, with finely glandular-puberulent segments 12 to 20 millimeters long, arranged both at the base and along the stem. The fruit consists of 6 to 22 slightly reflexed segments with compressed lateral bodies 4 to 6 millimeters long and short beaks.

Habitat: Uncommon. Moist places, streambanks, conifer forest

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 1400-3500 m

Bioregions: CaR, n&ampc SN, SnBr, SnJt, SNE (Sweetwater, White mtns)

California counties: Tulare, Fresno, Inyo, Madera, San Bernardino, Riverside, Mono, El Dorado, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Plumas, Nevada, Kern, Butte, Lassen, Shasta, Sierra, Placer, Tehama, Modoc, Siskiyou, Trinity, Santa Barbara, Alpine

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.