Shade-loving perennial delights in gardens

Also called False Bugbane and Tassel-rue, Western Bugbane (Trautvatteria caroliniensis) is named for Russian botanist Ernest Rudolf von Trautvetter (1809-1889). During his career, von Trautvetter was the director of botanical gardens in Kiev and St. Petersburg.

This delightful, shade-loving perennial is found in the western United States, west of the Rockies and south to Texas, and in the eastern U.S., east of the Mississippi River and from Pennsylvania south. Its natural habitat includes wooded slopes with natural seepage, stream banks, and shady bogs.

Growing to a height of three to four feet, single stalks arise from underground rhizomes, rarely branching until reaching the flowering heads. Green leaves are both basal and along the stem. All leaves are palmate (hand-shaped) with five to eleven deeply divided lobes. The basal leaves are attached to the main stalk by stems (petioles) and are larger than the stem leaves, which are often attached directly to the main stalk without a petiole.

Western Bugbane flowers are showy, fragrant, and unusual in that they have no petals. They are bright white, about three-fourths of an inch across, and made up entirely of 50-100 stamens on thin filaments. This white starburst of stamens surrounds up to fifteen greenish stigmas (the female part of the flower) clustered like a button in the center. The flowers are arranged in somewhat flat-topped clusters (corymbs) up to five inches wide at the ends of the stems.

A member of the buttercup family, Western Bugbane is disease-free and deer-resistant. Like other members of the buttercup family, it contains protoanemonin, a natural compound that can cause reddening or blistering of the skin. The Bella Coola Native American tribes pounded roots to create a poultice for the treatment of boils in adults.

In the garden, Western Bugbane is a good choice for a shady spot where the soil is moist and organically rich in humus. While it tolerates full shade, dappled sun is preferred. Under optimal conditions, it will spread by rhizomes and it can be divided or propagated from seed. Each of the fertilized ovaries in the center ripens into a single seed inside a papery covering.

The bright white flowers are long-lasting and make an eye-catching display in shady gardens, like sparklers exploding on a stem. Stems and leaves die down in the fall and re-emerge from underground rhizomes in the spring. Western Bugbane is easy to grow and low-maintenance in the right location.

Pictures and a description of Western Bugbane are found on page 138 of "Landscaping with Native Plants in the Idaho Panhandle", a KNPS publication available at local bookstores and the Bonner County History Museum. Additional native plants can be viewed at the North Idaho Native Plant Arboretum, 611 S. Ella Ave., in Sandpoint.

Native Plant Notes are created by the Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society. To learn more about KNPS and the North Idaho Native Plant Arboretum, visit www.nativeplantsociety.org.