Canadian Burnet

(Sanguisorba canadensis)

 

   

 

Color Photograph: U.S. National Parks Service.

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

 

Canadian Burnet (Sanguisorba canadensis L.)

Identification: Flowers small, white, with 4 petal-like sepals and 4 very long stamens. Flowers arranged in compact, elongate, cylindrical spikes. Spikes on long flowering stalks, commonly branched. Leaves compound with 7 to 15 leaflets in opposite pairs with one apical leaflet. Leaflets toothed, elliptical, each with a long petiole. Leaves mostly (although not completely) clustered near the bottom of the plant. Plant 1 to 6 feet in height.

Distribution: Manitoba in the west to Newfoundland in the east, southward to Illinois, Ohio, and Delaware, and in the mountains to Georgia. Also occurs in the Pacific Northwest.

Habitat: Canadian Burnet is found in swamps and bogs.

Flowering period: July to October.

Similar Species: The cylindrical flower heads with their distinct flowers and the compound leaves are distinctive features of this species.

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