About Tiarella wherryi Lakela
Tiarella wherryi Lakela is a perennial herbaceous plant with a short, slender rhizome. It produces a leafless flowering stem and relatively large basal leaves, each of which has an extended terminal lobe. The most notable characteristic of this species is its inability to produce stolons. To positively identify Tiarella wherryi, all of the following key features must be verified (in any order): stolons are always absent; basal leaves are usually longer than wide; basal leaf lobes are usually acute-acuminate, with the terminal lobe prominently extended; and the flowering stem has no leaves or foliaceous bracts. If the plant in question has a stolon, it is not Tiarella wherryi — it is instead either Tiarella stolonifera or Tiarella austrina. Except for the feature of the leafless flowering stem, the identification key features for Tiarella wherryi are identical to those of Tiarella nautila, so distinguishing the two species may be difficult. Tiarella wherryi is also similar to Tiarella cordifolia, and differs from that species only in the form of its basal leaves. Tiarella wherryi is endemic to the southeastern United States, ranging from southern Kentucky to southern Alabama, and eastward from there into Georgia. The counties where the species is known to occur are: Alabama: Baldwin, Barbour, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clarke, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert, Conecuh, Coosa, Cullman, DeKalb, Elmore, Etowah, Franklin, Hale, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, Morgan, Randolph, Russell, Saint Clair, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Winston; Georgia: Bartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Clay, Clayton, Dade, Decatur, Early, Floyd, Fulton, Gordon, Haralson, Harris, Polk, Quitman, Randolph, Upson, Walker, Whitfield; Kentucky: Clinton, Cumberland, Edmonson, Hart, Laurel, McCreary, Metcalfe, Pulaski, Wayne; Mississippi: Choctaw, Itawamba, Monroe, Tishomingo; Tennessee: Anderson, Bedford, Bledsoe, Bradley, Campbell, Cannon, Coffee, Cumberland, Davidson, DeKalb, Fentress, Franklin, Giles, Grundy, Hamilton, Hickman, Jackson, Knox, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Loudon, Macon, Marion, Marshall, Maury, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Moore, Morgan, Overton, Pickett, Polk, Putnam, Rutherford, Rhea, Roane, Scott, Sequatchie, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, Van Buren, Warren, Wayne, White, Williamson, Wilson. The range of Tiarella wherryi overlaps with the range of T. stolonifera in Kentucky (Laurel, McCreary, Pulaski) and Tennessee (Anderson, Campbell, Knox, Morgan, Roane, Scott); it overlaps with the range of T. nautila in Georgia (Bartow, Floyd) and Tennessee (Monroe, Polk); and it overlaps with a small disjunct population of T. austrina in Alabama (Jackson, Madison) and Tennessee (Franklin). In northeastern Georgia, the range of T. wherryi approaches the range of T. cordifolia near Jackson County.
