1.
Lunaria annua
Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 653. 1753.
Bolbonac, silver-dollar, penny-flower
Lunaria biennis
Moench;
L. inodora
Lamarck
Plants
sparsely to densely hispid, glabrous, or glabrate.
Stems
(3-)4-10(-12) dm, pubescent or, rarely, glabrate.
Basal leaves:
petiole (1.5-)3-10(-17) cm; blade broadly cordate to narrowly cordate-ovate, (1.5-) 3-12(-18) × (1-)2-8(-12) cm, base cordate, often pubescent.
Cauline leaves
similar to basal, petiole shorter (distal sessile); blade (proximal opposite, distal alternate), smaller distally.
Fruiting pedicels
(7-)10-15 mm, glabrous or pubescent.
Flowers:
sepals (5-)6-9 (-10) × 1-2 mm; petals (15-)17-25(-30) × 5-10 mm, claw 5-10 mm; filaments 5-8 mm; anthers oblong, 2-3 mm; gynophore relatively slender, 7-18 mm.
Fruits
3-4.5(-5) × 2-3(-3.5) cm, strongly latiseptate; valves each rounded basally and apically; replum glabrous or sparsely ciliate; style 4-10 mm.
Seeds
grayish brown, (6-)7-10(-12) × 5-9 mm.
2
n
= 30.
Flowering Apr-Jun. Roadsides, waste grounds, railroad embankments, thickets, woods, pasture margins; 0-1000 m; introduced; B.C., Man., N.S., Ont., Que.; Calif., Conn., Del., Idaho, Ind., Ky., Md., Mass., Mich., N.Y., Ohio, Oreg., Pa., R.I., Utah, Vt., Wash.; Europe; introduced also in South America (Argentina).
Lunaria annua
is cultivated for its attractive flowers but especially for the infructescences, which are used in dry bouquets after removal of the fruit valves and seeds.
