Melanthium latifolium
Encyclopedia
Melanthium latifolium is a species of flowering plant in the Melanthiaceae
known by the common names slender bunchflower and crisped bunchflower. It is native to the eastern United States, particularly in the Appalachian Mountains
.
This perennial herb grows from a bulb
with a network of rhizome
s. The stem grows up to 1.6 meters tall. The lance-shaped leaves reach up to 55 centimeters long by 7.2 centimeters wide. The inflorescence
is a raceme
branching into secondary, and sometimes tertiary, racemes. Each flower has woolly green or purplish bract
s and six white or yellowish tepal
s. The fruit is a capsule up to 2 centimeters long containing winged seeds. Though the plant produces flowers and seeds, flowering occurs irregularly and most reproduction may be vegetative
, when the plant sprouts from its rhizome.
This plant occurs in deciduous forests
. It occurs in moist, shady habitat such as gorges. It sometimes grows alongside Appalachian bunchflower (Melanthium parviflorum), but generally at lower elevation
s. At a site in the Shenandoah National Forest it was noted to grow with oak and hickory. Associated plants include white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima), flypoison (Amianthium muscitoxicum), white wood aster (Aster divaricatus), bigleaf aster (A. macrophyllus), wild yam (Dioscorea villosa), Allegheny hawkweed
(Hieracium paniculatum), widowsfrill
(Silene stellata), Atlantic goldenrod (Solidago arguta), mountain decumbent goldenrod
(S. caesia var. curtisii), hairy goldenrod (S. hispida), meadow zizia (Zizia aptera), and eastern hayscented fern
(Dennstaedtia punctilobula).
Melanthiaceae
Melanthiaceae is a family of flowering perennial herbs in the Northern Hemisphere. The family has been recognized by relatively few taxonomists, and the circumscription has varied...
known by the common names slender bunchflower and crisped bunchflower. It is native to the eastern United States, particularly in the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
.
This perennial herb grows from a bulb
Bulb
A bulb is a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf bases. The leaves often function as food storage organs during dormancy.A bulb's leaf bases, known as scales, generally do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions. At the center of the bulb is...
with a network of rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
s. The stem grows up to 1.6 meters tall. The lance-shaped leaves reach up to 55 centimeters long by 7.2 centimeters wide. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
branching into secondary, and sometimes tertiary, racemes. Each flower has woolly green or purplish bract
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
s and six white or yellowish tepal
Tepal
Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is more often applied specifically when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated, which is called perigone...
s. The fruit is a capsule up to 2 centimeters long containing winged seeds. Though the plant produces flowers and seeds, flowering occurs irregularly and most reproduction may be vegetative
Vegetative reproduction
Vegetative reproduction is a form of asexual reproduction in plants. It is a process by which new individuals arise without production of seeds or spores...
, when the plant sprouts from its rhizome.
This plant occurs in deciduous forests
Temperate deciduous forest
A temperate deciduous forest, more precisely termed temperate broadleaf forest or temperate broadleaved forest, is a biome found in North America, southern South America, Europe, and Asia. A temperate deciduous forest consists of trees that lose their leaves every year...
. It occurs in moist, shady habitat such as gorges. It sometimes grows alongside Appalachian bunchflower (Melanthium parviflorum), but generally at lower elevation
Elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
s. At a site in the Shenandoah National Forest it was noted to grow with oak and hickory. Associated plants include white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima), flypoison (Amianthium muscitoxicum), white wood aster (Aster divaricatus), bigleaf aster (A. macrophyllus), wild yam (Dioscorea villosa), Allegheny hawkweed
(Hieracium paniculatum), widowsfrill
Silene stellata
Silene stellata, or Starry Campion, is a flowering plant in the United States....
(Silene stellata), Atlantic goldenrod (Solidago arguta), mountain decumbent goldenrod
Solidago caesia
Solidago caesia, or Blue-Stemmed Goldenrod, is a flowering plant in the United States....
(S. caesia var. curtisii), hairy goldenrod (S. hispida), meadow zizia (Zizia aptera), and eastern hayscented fern
Dennstaedtia punctilobula
Dennstaedtia punctilobula is a species of fern native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to Wisconsin and Arkansas, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Alabama; it is most abundant in the east of its range, with only scattered populations in the west.It is a deciduous...
(Dennstaedtia punctilobula).