Dalibarda repens
Encyclopedia
Dalibarda repens is a perennial plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

 (technically a forb
Forb
A forb is a herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid . The term is used in biology and in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands and understory.-Etymology:...

) in the Rose family, Rosaceae
Rosaceae
Rosaceae are a medium-sized family of flowering plants, including about 2830 species in 95 genera. The name is derived from the type genus Rosa. Among the largest genera are Alchemilla , Sorbus , Crataegus , Cotoneaster , and Rubus...

. It is the only species in its genus, which is closely allied with the genus Rubus
Rubus
Rubus is a large genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae. Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus. Most of these plants have woody stems with prickles like roses; spines, bristles, and gland-tipped hairs are...

(brambles, blackberries, raspberries). It is fairly easily grown in shady locations in damp to wet, acidic soils, and is frequently used in wildflower and bog gardens as a ground-cover.

Description

Dalibarda repens is a herbaceous plant
Herbaceous plant
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...

 with simple 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....

, and hairy stems. It is the only species in the genus Dalibarda. It has both sterile and fertile flowers. The sterile flowers are much less numerous than the fertile ones, have five white petals and are borne atop a peduncle. The more numerous fertile flowers are cleistogamous (they are self-pollinating and never open), and are hidden beneath the leaves. The flower stalks (peduncles) of the cleistogamous flowers are short, 2–5 cm long, and curved downward. The calyx forms a shallow, hairy hypanthium, which is divided into 5–6 lobes of unequal size, the 3 larger lobes are toothed (serrate).

Stem: Decumbent/creeping, "several inches" in length, with a densely-tufted terminal portion which bears both leaves and flowers.

Leaves: Basal, simple, pinnately-veined above the base, long-petiolate, slightly hairy/downy on both sides. Dark green in color. Leaf blades cordate to rounded (orbicular), 3–5 cm long; the basal lobes rounded; apex blunt to rounded; margins scalloped, with low rounded teeth (crenate); petioles hairy, 3–10 cm long.

The common name false violet comes not only from the heart-shaped leaves, but also because this plant, like violets, produces two kinds of flowers.

Though this plant is globally secure, it is locally endangered in Connecticut, New Jersey, North Carolina and Rhode Island. It is listed as threatened in Michigan and Ohio.

It is native to the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada.

Identification: Plant low, spreading by runners with leaves and flowers arising on separate stalks from the runner. The sterile flowers are white with 5 broad petals and numerous long stamens, solitary on a long, reddish flower stalk arising from runner. Leaf kidney-shaped, with a long petiole, and with outer margin scalloped. Plant 2 to 5 inches in height.

Similar Species: The leaves of dewdrop may be confused with violet leaves, but violets have low rounded teeth that curve upward; the leaf margins of dewdrop have low scalloped edges or outward-facing blunt teeth.

Distribution: Minnesota in the west to Nova Scotia in the east, southward to Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and in the mountains to North Carolina.

Habitat: Dewdrop is found in northern or upland forests, in shady locations, in moist to wet conifer and mixedwood (softwoods and hardwoods) forests or swamps, and often on red pine and white pine sites with sandy, acidic soils. It thrives best in acidic soils.

Fruit: A few, nearly dry, small white drupes (drupelets), 3–4 mm long, retained within the calyx.

Edibility: As with its close relatives the Rubus, the young plants make a reasonably palatable pot-herb, and can be brewed as a mild infusion/tea throughout the growing season. The fruit is edible, but decidedly not "choice".

Flowering period: June to August.
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