(Purple Meadow Rue) Tall Meadow Rue is a stout, native, erect perennial forb, taller than Alum Root which grows nearby in the Upland Garden, and reaching from 3 to 5 feet in height, the mature stem is a purple color. The stem may be smooth or have fine hair. It usually branches near the top. Leaves: The leaflets are 3 to 5 times 3-parted, mostly with 3 pointed lobes, up to 2-1/2 times as long as wide and are alternate on the stem. Leaves are hairy under (but without glandular hair), with the lower leaves on a stalk and upper stem leaves are stalkless. Leaf stalks are usually smooth - no hair. The inflorescence is a pyramid shaped compound panicle branching from the top of the stem. Sometimes there are smaller panicles rising from the upper leaf axils. Plants are dioecious, that is male and female flowers are on separate plants. Male plants have the larger and most showy flower clusters. Flowers: The male flowers are small 1/3" long 4 to 5-parted flowers, white to greenish lance shaped sepals with up to 15 stamens that are club shaped and have a pointed tip (are apiculate). The filaments of the stamens are white while the anthers are yellow, turning darker after pollen release. Female flowers have light green pistils. In the Thalictrum species the stigma extends down the side of the style. The sepals fall away early, no petals. Stems of the flowers and the flower panicles are usually without hair. Fruit: Seeds are a dry ovoid achene, which is ribbed, may be hairy, the ribs appearing as longitudinal wings. There is a beak on the seed at first, which separates away as the seed matures.

Habitat: Tall Meadow Rue grows in meadows, open woods, and prairies where the soil is loamy to sandy, moist to mesic and with full sun to partial sun. Names: The genus, Thalictrum, was originated from the Greek word 'thaliktron' by the Greek pharmacologist Dioscorides, who used it to describe plants with divided leaves. The species name, dasycarpum, is from two Greek words, dasy, meaning 'hairy or thick' and carpus, meaning 'fruited' - here referring to the carpel, the seed organ of this species. The author name covers two individuals -"Fisch' is for Friedrich Ernst Ludwig Fischer (1782-1854), Russian botanist and director of the St. Petersburg Botanical Garden and 'Ave-Lall.' is for Julius Leopold Eduard Ave-Lallemant (1803-1867), a German botanist who also worked in St. Petersburg. Comparisons: The only species that will resemble Tall Meadow Rue is the Early Meadow Rue, Thalictrum dioicum, which grows shorter and in less sunny locations and the leaves have more numerous rounded teeth, not just 3 lobes.