Nodding rattlesnakeroot
Nabalus crepidineus (Michx.) DC.
Nabalus crepidineus, known as nodding rattlesnakeroot, is a flowering plant in the Asteraceae family native to the United States. It occurs in the Midwest and Upland South, inhabiting bottomland and mesic forests, as well as streambanks. The plant can grow up to 300 cm tall with a thick, tuberous taproot. It has erect stems, large leaves, and open, leafy inflorescences with white or yellow corollas. The species is distinguished by its tall, robust habit, large leaves with coarsely dentate margins, and dark green to blackish phyllaries.
Description
Nabalus crepidineus is characterized by its height of 100-300 cm and a thick, tuberous taproot. The stems are erect, green to tan, with a glabrous base and tomentose upper parts. Leaves are large, deltate to broadly ovate, with bases that are hastate or sagittate. The plant produces broad, open paniculiform inflorescences with nodding branches. Each head has 15-38 florets, with corollas that are typically white or occasionally yellow. The calyculi consist of 18-20 triangular to lanceolate bractlets, and the involucres are campanulate. Phyllaries are dark green to blackish, lanceolate to elliptic, with scarious margins and coarse setae. The cypselae are golden brown, oblong to linear, with 10-12 ribs, and the pappi are tan. The species is diploid with 2n = 32 chromosomes.
Other common names
Nodding rattlesnakeroot
Distribution
Missouri · Minnesota · Iowa · Kentucky · West Virginia · Indiana · Delaware · Ohio · Pennsylvania · Illinois · Michigan · New York · Wisconsin · Arkansas · Tennessee · Maryland
Synonyms
Chondrilla crepidineaPrenanthes crepidinea
