Seeds and the Rattlesnake root

The seeds announcement of today come in pairs.
Two species for dry, sunny areas: Oenothera macrocarpa (Missouri evening primrose) and Astragalus missouriensis (Missouri milkvetch).
A pair for moist locations: Nabalus racemosus and Smilax tamnoides (Bristly greenbriar).

I’ll take this occasion to present Nabalus racemosus (aka Prenanthes racemosa, Rattlesnake root) which is rarely cultivated in the gardens, or maybe not at all.

All others are shortly described in the Shop and some may be discussed at a later time. On the account of Friday’s seeds we’ll have only a picture with the handsome seeds of Smilax tamnoides.

Nabalus racemosus plant portrait

I fell in love with the Rattlesnake root after seeing in flower one year in early fall in Bruce peninsula. From this point of view, Rattlesnake root is a good common name!

The fuzzy buds and pink flowers somehow are very attractive. One year, many monarchs were literally ‘hanging’ on the flowering stems in a group of plants, and so I became even more interested in growing it.

The common name Rattlesnake root suggests that it was used as a remedy for snakebites by the Indigenous People, and other common maladies like fever, headaches and dysentery.

I managed to grow a couple of plants just from a few seeds. It is not difficult to germinate, it only requires a long period of cold/moist stratification, ie. sow in late fall outdoors.

Nabalus racemosus (Fam. Asteraceae) is a moisture loving, tall species. Depending on how moist the place is, it can reach over 1.60 m on moist substrates, or remain around 80 cm on dryish soils.
In the wild, it can be found growing around stream banks, temporarily wet shorelines, and moist woodland edges.

In the garden will share the location with Lobelia siphilitica, Iris versicolor, Lobelia cardinalis, Eupatorium perfoliatum, Castilleja coccinea and other similar companions.

The sturdy flowering stem grows from a rosette of large, glaucous leaves, tightly packed first with clusters of hairy buds, which open to pink flowers with the outer phyllaries covered in dense hairs.

The blooming time is August-September, and the flowers are visited by many late summer pollinators: butterflies, bumblebees and everyone else that would enjoy a sip of nectar.

Overall, Rattlesnake root is not a plant for the front of the border, or for those in need of very tidy garden beds. If you are wild at heart though and have a slightly moist garden area/where the water collects seasonally, go for it, you won’t regret it.

What’s next? Hamamelis virginiana, Viburnum rafinesquianum, Triosteum aurantiacum, a couple of Polemoniums…