CULVER'S ROOT
File Size: 53 KB
 
Veronicastrum virginicum  L.
Douglas County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 20-59 inches
Family: Plantaginaceae - Plantain Family
Flowering Period:   June, July, August
Also Called: Culver's physic.
Stems: Erect, simple or branched above. Plants glabrous or sparsely to densely villous.
Leaves: Cauline, whorled with 3 to 7 leaves per node; petiole absent; blade lanceolate to elliptic, 1 to 4.3 inches long, .2 to 1.4 inches wide, margins finely toothed.
Inflorescences: Racemes, terminal.
Flowers: Calyx (4-)5-lobed, .05 to .1 inch, lobes lanceolate; corolla white, sometimes pinkish, tubular to salverform, 4-lobed, .16 to .28 inch; stamens 2, exserted.
Fruits: Capsules ovoid to elliptic, .16 to .2 inch; seeds brown or reddish brown, elliptic, 0.1 to 0.3 inch.
Habitat: Tallgrass prairies, glades.
Distribution: East 1/4 of Kansas
Origin: Native
Uses: In the 1800s, physicians used an infusion of the rhizome as a mild cathartic.

Culver's root
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Douglas County, Kansas
Culver's root
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Douglas County, Kansas
Culver's root flowers
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Douglas County, Kansas
Culver's root
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Douglas County, Kansas
Culver's root leaves
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Douglas County, Kansas
Culver's root
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Douglas County, Kansas
Culver's root
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Douglas County, Kansas
Culver's root
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Douglas County, Kansas
Culver's root
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Douglas County, Kansas