Nabalus albus

White rattlesnake root
Nabalus albus[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Cichorieae
Genus: Nabalus
Species: N. albus
Binomial name
Nabalus albus
(L.) Hook.
Nabalus albus in bloom on the Bruce Trail near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Nabalus albus, the white rattlesnake-root or white lettuce, is a plant in the family Asteraceae, native to Canada and the Eastern United States.[2][3][4] Details of the flower heads are needed to separate this species from others in the rattlesnake-root genus (Nabalus). The Iroquois applied a poultice of the roots of white rattlesnake root to rattlesnake bites. It can be found growing in forests, woodlands, and anthropogenic habitats. The flower head has ray flowers only, meaning all of the individual flowers of the flower head have a strap-shaped ray, which may or may not have teeth at the very tip of the ray. The colors vary from blue to purple, pink to red, or white. The leaf blade length can be between 40 to 300 mm. while the flower head width can be 3 to 5 mm.[5]

Range

Map of where the plant lives

White rattlesnake-root is native to Canada and the Eastern United States. It is commonly present in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont.[5]

References

  1. Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Vol. 3: 335.
  2. Plants for a Future
  3. Go Botany, New England Wild Flower Society, Nabalus albus (L.) Hook. white rattlesnake-root
  4. US Department of Agriculture plants profile
  5. 1 2 "Nabalus albus (white rattlesnake-root): Go Botany". gobotany.newenglandwild.org. Retrieved 2016-02-08.


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