Virginia waterleaf

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Virginia waterleaf

Virginia waterleaf leaf

Virginia waterleaf flowers

Virginia waterleaf flowers

Virginia waterleaf infloresence

Virginia waterleaf inflorescence

Virginia waterleaf

Virginia waterleaf leaves

Virginia waterleaf

Morphology

Stem

Erect, branched. Plants glabrescent or hispid to strigose.

Leaves

Alternate: petiole 2 to 10 inches; basal and lower cauline pinnatifid to nearly pinnatisect, 1.8 to 4 inches long, 2.8 to 4.7 inches wide, segments 3-5, triangular or obovate to oblanceolate, elliptic, or lanceolate, margins coarsely serrate; upper cauline pinnatifid.

Inflorescence

Cymes, terminal, 5-30-flowered; peduncles .8 to 8 inches.

Flower

Pedicels 1/8 to 2/5 inch; sepals connate basally, calyx 1/8 to 1/4 inch, sinuses without conspicuous auricles, lobes linear; corolla lavender to white, bell-shaped, 1/3 to 2/5 inch; stamens exserted 1/6 to 1/3 inch.

Fruit

Capsules, ovoid to spheric, 1/8 to 1/6 inch, pubescent to hispid; seeds brown or orangish brown, ellipsoid, 1/10 to 1/7 inch, honeycombed.

Ecology

Habitat

Maple-basswood, floodplain, and moist oak-hickory forests

Distribution

East 1/4 of Kansas and Riley County

Practical Information

Uses

The Iroquois cooked the young plants and leaves for food and used a decoction of roots for mouth sores and cracked lips.

Additional Notes