About Hydrophyllum appendiculatum Michx.
Hydrophyllum appendiculatum Michx. is a biennial herbaceous plant that reaches 30–76 centimetres (1–2.5 ft) in height, with branching, hairy stems. Its leaves are also hairy, alternate, and roughly 8–15 centimetres (3–6 in) in both length and width. Lower leaves are longer than they are wide, while middle and upper leaves are more rounded. All leaves are split into 3 to 5 lobes. The inflorescence is a loose cyme (cluster) of pinkish purple or lavender flowers that grows at the ends of stems and branches, rising above the leaves, and reaches 5–8 centimetres (2–3 in) long. Each individual flower measures 1–2 centimetres (.5–.8 in) across. Short, triangular appendages flare outward from the sinuses between the calyx lobes. This species can be told apart from the similar-looking Hydrophyllum canadense, which shares a broad overlapping range with it, by the presence of these small calyx sinus appendages on H. appendiculatum. Additionally, both H. canadense and another similar species, Hydrophyllum virginianum, have less hairy stems than H. appendiculatum. H. appendiculatum is native to the United States, where it ranges west to Nebraska and Kansas, south to Mississippi and Alabama, north to the Canadian border, and east to New York. In Canada, it is native to Ontario. Its natural habitat includes mesic calcareous forests, bottomland woods, bluff bases, quarries, and slopes. In ecology, its flowers bloom from May to July and attract a wide variety of bees, flies, butterflies, and skippers.
