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Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Five-point Bishop's-cap
Mitella pentandra Hook.

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Saxifrage (Saxifragaceae)
Flowering: May-July
Field Marks: The 5 petals of the flowers of this species are deeply and intricately divided, giving the appearance of a snowflake.
Habitat: Moist woods, bogs.
Habit: Perennial herb with short rootstocks.
Stems: Upright, slender, up to 1 foot tall, glandular-hairy, bearing only a raceme of flowers.
Leaves: All basal, shallowly and palmately 5-lobed, heart-shaped at the base, up to 3 inches long and about as broad, hairy, with some of the hairs glandular, toothed; stalks up to 4 inches long, hairy or smooth.
Flowers: 8-20 in an uncrowded raceme, on short stalks.
Sepals: 5, green, united below, the lobes more or less triangular, rounded at the tip, usually curved downward.
Petals: 5, white, free from each other, finely divided into thread-like segments.
Stamens: 5.
Pistils: Ovary more or less inferior; styles 2.
Fruits: Capsules ovoid, 2-beaked, up to 1/6 inch across, with numerous smooth and shiny seeds.

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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:28:06 EST
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