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Western
Meadowrue
Thalictrum occidentale Gray
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Family: Ranunculaceae,
Buttercup
Genus: Thalictrum
Description
General: erect perennial, hairless to glandular-short-hairy.
Stems mostly 40-100 cm tall, leafy, purplish when young,
from rhizomes and yellow roots.
 Leaves: mainly on stem, alternate, with a bluish-white
cast, 3-4 times divided in 3's, the leaflets thin, wedge-
shaped to obovate, 1.5-3 cm long, rounded to somewhat
heart-shaped at the base, usually 3-lobed and the lobes
entire to less deeply 2- to 3-lobed or -toothed.
 Flowers: greenish to purplish, male and female flowers
on separate plants, many in loose, branched clusters with
leafy bracts. Petals lacking, sepals 2-5 mm long. Stamens
15-30, the filaments thread-like, 4-8 mm long, usually
purplish, the anthers light brown, 1.5-4 mm long. Ovaries
glandular-hairy, stigmas usually purplish, 3-4.5 mm long.
Flowering time: May-July.
 Fruits: elliptic achenes, spreading to curved back,
mostly 5-8 mm long and 2-2.5 mm broad, slightly flattened,
with 3 prominent, usually simple nerves on each side.
Stipes 0.2-1 mm long.
Distribution
Moist, open to shaded sites, foothills to subalpine, in w.
and c. parts of MT. Also from B.C. to WY, CO, UT and CA.
 Medicinal plant: see below. |
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(click on image for full size)
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Medicinal Uses:
The Blackfoot Indians powdered the fruits of meadow rue and mixed them with water to be used as a cosmetic on the hair and body. They also made a tea of seeds for chest pains. The fruits were used to spice pemmican, dried meat and broths. The Bella Coola chewed the root and swallowed the juice for headache, eye trouble and sore legs, and to loosen phlegm and improve blood circulation. The Thompson Indians made a poultice of mashed roots to be applied to open wounds.
Other Uses:
The fruits were kept as a household and clothing deodorant and often crushed and mixed with paint for robes. The seeds and leaves were also placed among clothing or other possessions as an insect repellant.
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