American Ipeac

(Porteranthus stipulatus)

 

   

 

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

American Ipeac (Porteranthus stipulatus  [Muhl. ex Willd.] Britt.)

Identification: Flowers white with 5 narrow, floppy petals. Center of flower narrow and indented. Flowers arranged in branched clusters of a few flowers each. Leaves compound with 3 leaflets, each leaflet with toothed outer margins. Leaf with a short petiole and with a pair of large, ovate bracts at is base enclosing the petiole. Bracts toothed. Plant 2 to 3 feet in height.

Distribution: Kansas and Illinois in the west to New York in the east, southward to Georgia and Texas.

Habitat: American Ipeac is found in forest and thickets.

Flowering period: May to July.

Similar Species: Bowman's Root is similar, but the stipules at the base of the compound leaves are small, thin, and narrow.

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