12.
Heuchera richardsonii
R. Brown in J. Franklin et al., Narr. Journey Polar Sea. 766, plate 29. 1823.
Richardson's alum-root
Heuchera richardsonii
var
. affinis
Rosendahl, Butters & Lakela;
H. richardsonii
var
. grayana
Rosendahl, Butters & Lakela;
H. richardsonii
var.
hispidior
Rosendahl, Butters & Lakela
Herbs
acaulescent; caudex branched.
Flowering stems
(7-)20-95 cm, densely long stipitate-glandular.
Leaves:
petiole densely or sparsely long or short stipitate-glandular; blade broadly ovate or cordate, deeply 5-7-lobed, 2.5-10 cm, base cordate or nearly truncate, lobes rounded, margins dentate, apex acute, surfaces long stipitate-glandular abaxially, glabrous or long stipitate-glandular adaxially.
Inflorescences
dense to diffuse.
Flowers:
hypanthium strongly bilaterally symmetric, free 2-7 mm, green, campanulate, abruptly inflated distal to adnation to ovary, 5-14 mm, short stipitate-glandular; sepals erect, green-tipped, equal, 1.3-4.2 mm, apex rounded (sinuses wider than petals); petals erect, green or greenish white, rarely pink, narrowly spatulate, unlobed, 1.3-4 mm, margins finely dentate or coarsely fimbriate; stamens 1.5 mm included to 4 mm exserted; styles from 0.6 mm included to 0.3 mm exserted, 4-6 mm, to 0.1 mm diam.
Capsules
ovoid, 7-14.5 mm, beaks divergent, not papillose.
Seeds
dark or very dark brown, ellipsoid, 0.6-0.9 mm.
2
n
= 14, 28.
Flowering May-Jun. Moist or dry, low or upland prairies, basic rock outcroppings and bluffs, sandy, dry woods; 200-800 m; Alta., B.C., Man., N.W.T., Ont., Sask.; Colo., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Mich., Minn., Mo., Mont., Nebr., N.Dak., Okla., S.Dak., Wis., Wyo.
Heuchera richardsonii
intergrades with
H. americana
where their ranges overlap in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Oklahoma; the intergrading form is recognized here as
H. americana
var.
hirsuticaulis
.
Heuchera hispida
(
H. americana
var.
hispida
here; see thereunder) was confused with
H. richardsonii
for almost a hundred years, until C. O. Rosendahl et al. (1933) pointed out that the plants from the Midwest then passing as
H. hispida
Pursh were distinct from Pursh's species and were
H. richardsonii
.
The Blackfoot, Cree, Lakota, and Woodlands Indians used decoctions and infusions of the roots of
Heuchera richardsonii
for diarrhea and as an eyewash, and the Lakota applied a poultice of powdered roots to sores (D. E. Moerman 1998).
