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  Onagraceae: Oenothera serrulata

  R. Neil Reese

  Oenothera serrulata is a biennial or short-lived perennial herb growing from a deep taproot with an erect, 30 to 90 cm tall, branched stem often covered in fine hairs. The basal leaves are lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 5 to 15 cm long and 1 to 3 cm wide, with finely serrated (serrulate) margins, and short petioles. The stem leaves are smaller and more linear. Flowering occurs from late spring into mid-summer (May–July). The flowers are large and showy, born singly or in loose clusters on elongating stems, opening in the late afternoon or evening and lasting into the night. Each flower has four sepals, narrowly lanceolate and 10 to 15 mm long, which reflex as the flower opens. The corolla consists of four petals, bright yellow fading to orange with age, each 25 to 40 mm long and 10 to 15 mm wide, broadly obovate to spatulate in shape with a slightly notched apex. The flower contains eight stamens with slender filaments and conspicuous yellow anthers arranged around a single pistil. The ovary is superior with a slender style, about 15 to 20 mm long, terminating in a four-lobed stigma approximately 3 to 4 mm wide; the lobes are elongated and slightly papillose. The fruit is a slender capsule, 4 to 7 cm long, maturing in late summer, containing numerous small seeds. Serrate-leaved evening primrose is native to South Dakota, typically found in sandy or rocky soils of prairies, open woodlands, and disturbed sites across the central and western parts of the state.

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  Onagraceae : Oenothera suffrutescens

  R. Neil Reese

  Oenothera suffrutescens is a perennial herb, usually with several branched stems growing 20-100 cm tall, from a branching caudex and spreading underground stems the generate new plants and form large colonies. The simple, alternate leaves are almost sessile, linear to narrowly elliptic, 5-60 mm long and 1-7 mm wide with a pointed tip, the margins entire to having a few small teeth. The inflorescence is a spike-like raceme, 5-60 cm long on a peduncle that is 1-6 cm long. The zygomorphic flowers appear sessile, each subtended by a bract. The floral tube is 4-12 mm long, with 4 sepals 5-10 mm long and 4 clawed (narrowed) petals 3-9 mm long and 2-4 mm wide, that are initially white, then changing to red-orange or reddish brown. There are 8 stamens, the anthers red or yellow and a central pistil with a style 10-20 mm long topped with a 4-lobed stigma. The fruit is a capsule 4-9 mm long constricted at the base. This species is highly variable in habit, flower color, size and pubescence, with plants ranging from smooth to densely hairy. Scarlet guara blooms from May into August in dry prairies, open wooded hillsides and stream valleys throughout South Dakota.

  Synonym: Guara coccinea

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  Orchidaceae: Corallorhiza striata

  R Neil Reese

  Corallorhiza striata is a perennial saprophytic herb, lacking roots and growing from a much-branched rhizome, with erect stems 15-45 cm tall. The simple stems are succulent, yellow to red to purple to brown, wrapped with membranous bracts, 1-14 cm long. The inflorescence is a terminal raceme, 5-16 cm long with up to 35 flowers loosely arranged and subtended by bracts < 4 mm long. The flowers are nodding, yellow tinged with red to purple stripes. There are 3 narrow sepals, sometimes striped, 5-18 mm long, and 2-5 mm wide and 3, often purplish striped, petals the 2 lateral ones are about the same length as the sepals. The lower petal forms a broad, fleshy, reflexed bilobed lip, 3-16 mm long and 3-8 mm wide. The fruit is an elliptic capsule 1.2-2 cm long. Striped coralroot blooms in May and June in cool, coniferous woodlands in decaying litter in western South Dakota.

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  Orchidaceae: Platanthera dilatata

  R Neil Reese

  Platanthera dilatata is a perennial herb growing 15-70 cm tall. The mostly alternate, lanceolate leaves are cauline, 3-20 cm long and up to 3 cm wide with a pointed tip. the inflorescence is a loose to densely packed raceme, 5-25 cm long with 10-50 flowers, subtended by lanceolate floral bracts 5-40 mm long. The white flowers have 2 broad petal-like sepals that flare laterally, 4-8 mm long. Two lateral petals and an upper sepal form a hood, 4–6 mm long. The lower lip is narrower than the side sepals and initially curves up, touching the tip of the hood, and then flowing downward forming a sac-like to slender spur. The fruit is an ellipsoid capsule 8–15 mm long and 3-4 mm wide. White bog orchid is fairly rare in SD. It blooms in July in swampy forests and wooded bogs in and around Lawrence County in the State.

  Synonym: Habeneria dilatata

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  Oxalidaceae: Oxalis dillenii

  R. Neil Reese

  Oxalis dillenii is a small annual herbaceous plant growing 10 to 30 cm tall with slender, branching stems that are often slightly hairy. The trifoliate leaves are composed of three heart-shaped leaflets, each 1 to 2 cm long and 1 to 1.5 cm wide, with a distinct fold along the midrib and a bright green color. The flowers are borne singly or in small clusters on slender stalks above the foliage, blooming from May through October. Each flower has five green, lanceolate sepals about 4 to 6 mm long and 1.5 to 2 mm wide. The corolla consists of five bright yellow petals, each 8 to 12 mm long and 4 to 6 mm wide, obovate in shape with a rounded apex. The flower contains ten stamens with filaments of varying lengths and yellow anthers arranged around a superior ovary. The pistil has a single style approximately 5 to 7 mm long, terminating in a capitate (head-shaped) stigma about 1 to 1.5 mm wide. The fruit is a cylindrical capsule 10 to 15 mm long and 2 to 3 mm wide, developing after flowering from June through October; it dehisces explosively to release numerous small seeds. Southern Wood-sorrel is considered a native weed in South Dakota. It is difficult to distinguish from Oxalis stricta without a microscopic analysis of mature specimens. Oxalis dillenii has short, dense appressed hairs on the stems. The unbranched flower clusters typically have two flower buds, and the fruits of erect capsules are attached to bent or spreading stalks.

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  Oxalidaceae: Oxalis violacea

  Richard Neil Reese

  Oxalis violacea is a perennial herbaceous plant growing 15 to 40 cm tall from fibrous root system with small corms. The trifoliate leaves consist of three heart-shaped leaflets, each 1.5 to 3 cm long and 1.5 to 2.5 cm wide, with smooth margins and they often have a purplish tint on the underside. The leaves are petiolate with slender stalks 5 to 12 cm long. The flowers are borne singly on slender stalks above the foliage, blooming from April through June. Each flower has five green, lanceolate sepals about 6 to 8 mm long and 1.5 to 2.5 mm wide. The corolla consists of five petals, violet to lavender in color, each 10 to 15 mm long and 6 to 8 mm wide, obovate to broadly spatulate with a rounded apex. The flower contains ten stamens in two whorls with filaments of varying lengths and purple anthers arranged around a superior ovary. The pistil has a single style approximately 6 to 8 mm long, terminating in a capitate stigma about 1.5 to 2 mm wide. The fruit is a cylindrical capsule 12 to 18 mm long and 2 to 3 mm wide, developing after flowering from May through July; it dehisces explosively to release numerous small seeds. Violet wood-sorrel is native to South Dakota, commonly found in moist prairies, open woodlands, and along stream banks throughout the eastern and central parts of the state.

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  Papaveraceae : Argemone polyanthemos

  R Neil Reese

  Argemone polyanthemos is an annual to biennial plant with one to a few stems growing from a taproot. Plants vary greatly in size from 0.25 to 1.25 m in height with stems 7-20 mm in diameter. The stems are waxy with few to many yellowish prickles. The leaves are waxy with the upper surface smooth to bearing scattered prickles on the veins, with more prickles on the lower surface. The lower leaves are oblanceolate, deeply pinnately lobed, 7-25 cm long by 3-10 cm wide. The lobes are elliptical to obovate with undulating irregularly spiney-toothed margins and the petioles are winged. The leaves are reduced and become less lobed toward the top, but the margins are like those of the lower leaves. The flowers are 5-12 cm in diameter and are subtended by 2 bracts that are shorter than the sepals. The 3-6 yellowish sepals are 6-10 mm long. The 6-12 white petals are arranged in 2 rows, 2.5-5 cm long and nearly as wide. The center of the flower is dominated by numerous (~150) yellow stamens and the has 3-5 carpels. The fruit is a capsule 2.5-4 cm by 1-1.5 cm wide. The seeds are shiny, dark brown and round. Prickly poppy blooms from May until September. All parts of the plant have a yellow sap that stains the skin and clothing.

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  Papaveraceae : Sanguinaria canadensis

  R. Neil Reese

  Sanguinaria canadensis is a perennial herb with shallow, extensively branched rhizomes, 6-15 mm in diameter, that contain a red juice. The ends of the rhizome branches produce I leaf and 1 flower scape. At anthesis the leaf is usually shorted than the scape, but the petiole and blade rapidly expand and soon over tower the flower scape. The petiole reaches 10-35 cm in length, and the leaf blade becomes 6-20 cm long by 8-20 cm wide. The blade usually 3-7 lobed, almost circular in outline, green on top and waxy below, the margins entire to wavey. The flower forms at the end of a peduncle 5-12 cm long and has 2 rounded, membranous sepals, 2-12 mm long and 5-8 mm wide. The 8 (sometimes up to 16) white petals are oblanceolate to elliptic, 10-30 mm long and 5-12 mm wide, with 4 petals usually slightly larger than the others. The numerous stamens are up to 1 cm long with yellow anthers and the style is 2-lobed. The fruit is a spindle-shaped capsule, 3-5 cm long and 7-11 mm wide, containing ovoid, reddish brown seeds that have a prominent crest. Bloodroot blooms in late March into May on woodland slopes along the eastern edge of South Dakota.

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  Plantaginaceae : Plantago rugelii

  R. Neil Reese

  Plantago rugelii is a perennial herb growing from a short, erect caudex forming a low rosette of leaves with smooth, slender flowering stalks that can reach 35 cm in height. The leaf blades are broadly elliptic to ovate, 5-20 cm long and ½ to 2/3 as wide, narrowed at the base and rounded to pointed at the tip, with 5-9 major veins and entire to finely toothed margins. The petioles are 2-20 cm long, winged, and reddish toward the base. The inflorescence consists of 1-several terminal spikes, 5-20 cm long, sitting atop the smooth peduncle. Each flower is subtended by bracts 1.5-2.3 mm long, the 4 sepals are 2-2.5 mm long and the corolla forms a white to purple tube with 4 short lobes. The fruit is a capsule 6-8 mm long containing 4-10 black seeds. Blackseed plantain blooms from May into October in moist, often shaded woodlands and parklands along the eastern and western borders of South Dakota. This species is very similar to P. major, an introduced weed common in lawns and gardens throughout the world.

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  Polemoniaceae: Phlox hoodii

  R. Neil Reese

  Phlox hoodii is a perennial, herbaceous plant forming dense, cushion-like mats or low tufts. It has a fibrous root system and may develop a woody base with age. Plants typically range from 2 to 10 cm tall. The stems are short, densely branched, and covered with stiff, spreading hairs, giving a somewhat spiny appearance. Leaves are opposite, linear to narrowly lanceolate, simple, and clustered along the stems. Leaf color is gray green to green; leaves are 4–10 mm long and 1–2 mm wide, with ciliate (hairy) margins and surfaces, and a sharp, pointed tip. The upper and lower leaf surfaces are similar, both bearing stiff hairs. Leaves are sessile. Flowering occurs early in the spring, usually from April to June, depending on elevation and latitude. The inflorescence consists of solitary flowers or small clusters at the ends of stems. Flowers have a tubular calyx about 5–8 mm long, with five fused sepals that are green and covered with spreading hairs and glandular tips. The corolla (petals) is salverform, with a narrow tube (10–18 mm long) abruptly spreading into five (6) lobes, each 5–10 mm long; petals are typically white, pink, or lavender. There are five stamens inserted at the mouth of the corolla tube, usually included, with slender white filaments and yellowish anthers. The pistil consists of a single style, 8–12 mm long, ending in a three-lobed stigma. Fruit is a small, ovoid capsule, about 3–4 mm long, that matures in late spring to early summer, turning brown at maturity and splitting to release seeds. Hood’s phlox is native to South Dakota and is found throughout the western and central parts of the state, especially in dry prairies, rocky outcrops, and open pine woodlands.

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  Polemoniaceae : Phlox pilosa

  R. Neil Reese

  Phlox pilosa is a perennial herb from a stout rootstock, with I-several branching stems with 6-12 nodes, growing 20-75 cm tall, covered with simple and/or glandular hairs. The simple, alternate, sessile leaves are narrowly lance-linear, 30-100 mm long, 3-30 mm wide and hairy, especially along the entire margins and the midvein. The inflorescence is a panicle with up to 100 flowers with pedicels usually les than 10 mm long and covered with glandular hairs. The calyx is 8-15 mm long, the tube and 5 lobes about equal in length and covered with glandular hairs. The white, pink or purple corollas have a tube 8-16 mm long with 5 reflexed oblanceolate to obovate lobes 10-12 mm long and 6-8 mm wide. The style is 3-lobed and 1-3 mm long. the fruit is an ovoid capsule. Prairie phlox blooms from May into July in open woods and meadows in eastern South Dakota.

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  Polygonaceae : Eriogonum annuum

  R. Neil Reese

  Eriogonum annuum is an annual to biennial herb with 1 to a few erect, simple to branched stems, 10-100 cm tall and covered with silver-gray hairs. The plants start with a few, short-lived, simple, oblanceolate basal leaves, 2-5 cm long. The alternate, petiolate cauline leaves appear similar to the basal leaves, with most of them toward the base of the stem. The inflorescence is a terminal cyme, often with smaller cymes at the ends of the lower branches. The open cymes have a helicoid, bi or trichotomous branching pattern. The flowers are subtended by a sessile, membranous, calyx-like involucres that are funnel-shaped, 2.5-3 mm long, with shallow teeth. The perianth is composed of 6 white segments, sometimes with a pinkish tinge, the insides are hairy and the outer members are wider than the inner ones. There are 9 stamens and a 3 styles. The fruit are smooth achenes. Annual wild buckwheat blooms from July into September on dry, open grasslands in western and southern South Dakota.

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  Polygonaceae : Eriogonum flavum

  R. Neil Reese

  Eriogonum flavum is a perennial mat-forming herb from a thick, branched, woody caudex, usually having old leaf bases attached. The oblanceolate, petiolate, basal leaves are crowded, 3-8 cm long, 3-14 mm wide, green to grayish due to hairs on the upper surface and hairy beneath. The flowering stems are leafless, 4-25 cm tall, hairy, with leaf-like bracts subtending a compound umbel inflorescence, that have hairy rays up to 3 cm long. the cymose clusters of flowers are subtended by a few reduced bracts. The flowers have a campanulate involucre that is 4-6 mm long with shallow or lacking lobes. The perianth is 6-merous, 4-6 mm long, yellow to sometimes pink tinged, with hairs on the outside, narrowed to a short pedicel-like base. There are 9 stamens and 3 styles that are all exerted from the perianth. The fruit are elongated achenes with a tuft of hair at the top. Yellow wild buckwheat bloom from May into September on dry plains and ridges in western South Dakota.

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  Polygonaceae: Polygonum amphibium

  R. Neil Reese

  Polygonum amphibium is a perennial aquatic or semi-aquatic herb growing from a rhizomatous root system that allows it to spread horizontally underwater or in saturated soils. The roots are fibrous and fleshy, anchoring the plant in mud or shallow water. Stems can be either emergent or floating, reaching 30 to 90 cm in height. Leaves are alternate and variable: submerged leaves are narrow and linear, 5–15 cm long and 0.5–1 cm wide; floating or terrestrial leaves are broader, ovate to lanceolate, 7–20 cm long and 3–10 cm wide, with entire margins and petioles 2–8 cm long. The flowers are small, pink to rose-colored, clustered in dense terminal spikes blooming from July through September. Each flower has five pink to rose-colored tepals (sepals and petals not distinctly separate), 3 to 5 mm long and 1.5 to 2 mm wide. The flower contains eight stamens with yellow anthers. The pistil has a superior ovary with three styles. Fruits develop from August through October, maturing into small, three-angled achenes about 2 to 3 mm long and 1.5 to 2 mm wide. Water smartweed is native to South Dakota and typically found in wetlands, along lake and pond margins, slow-moving streams, and marshy areas throughout the eastern and central parts of the state.

  Synonym: Persicaria amphibia

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  Polygonaceae: Polygonum pensylvanicum

  R. Neil Reese

  Polygonum pensylvanicum is an annual herbaceous plant growing 30 to 100 cm tall from a fibrous root system. The stems are erect, often reddish, and may be branched. The leaves are alternate and petiolate, with petioles 1 to 6 cm long. Blades are lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 5 to 12 cm long and 1.5 to 4 cm wide, with entire or slightly wavy margins and a smooth surface, sometimes marked with a dark spot near the middle. The flowers are small, pink to rose, densely arranged in elongated, cylindrical spikes, 2–10 cm long, blooming from July through September. Each flower has five , pink to reddish tepals about 3 to 5 mm long and 1.5 to 2 mm wide and eight stamens with yellow anthers. The pistil has a superior ovary with three slender styles. The fruit is a small, three-angled achene about 2 to 3 mm long and 1.5 to 2 mm wide, maturing from late summer into fall. Pennsylvania smartweed is native to South Dakota and is commonly found in moist to wet habitats such as floodplains, marshes, pond edges, and ditches, especially in the eastern and central regions of the state.

  Synonym: Persicaria pensylvanica

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  Polygonaceae Rumex patientia

  R. Neil Reese

  Rumex patientia is a perennial herbaceous plant growing 50 to 150 cm tall from a thick, often reddish, creeping rootstock. Stems are erect, smooth to sparsely hairy. Leaves are alternate, broadly ovate to lanceolate, typically 15 to 40 cm long and 7 to 15 cm wide, with entire to slightly wavy margins and a pointed tip. Basal leaves have long petioles 10 to 20 cm in length; upper leaves are smaller and more lanceolate with shorter or no petioles. Leaf surfaces are smooth or sparsely hairy. The inflorescence is a large, loose panicle of many small flowers blooming from June to August. Flowers have greenish to reddish-brown tepals, usually three to six in number, each 3 to 5 mm long and 1 to 2 mm wide, lanceolate to ovate, with the inner tepals often bearing a tubercle or spine-like tip. Each flower contains six stamens with filaments about 3 to 4 mm long and yellowish anthers approximately 1 to 2 mm long. Pistils number three per flower, each slender and about 4 to 5 mm long, with styles bifid at the tip. Fruits are triangular, three-sided achenes approximately 4 to 6 mm long, dark brown at maturity. Patience dock is native to Eurasia but cultivated and naturalized in South Dakota, commonly found in gardens, disturbed sites, roadsides, and moist open fields , scattered and occasional throughout the state.

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  Polygonaceae: Rumex triangulivalvis

  R. Neil Reese

  Rumex triangulivalvis is a perennial herbaceous plant growing 40 to 120 cm tall from a thick, creeping rootstock. Stems are erect, smooth to sparsely hairy and often reddish-tinged. Leaves are alternate, broadly ovate to lanceolate, 10 to 30 cm long and 5 to 12 cm wide, with entire to slightly wavy margins and pointed tips. Basal leaves have long petioles, while upper leaves are smaller and may have shorter petioles or be nearly sessile. Leaf surfaces are smooth or sparsely hairy. The inflorescence is a large, loose panicle of many small flowers blooming from June to August. Flowers have greenish to reddish-brown tepals, typically three to six per flower, each 3 to 6 mm long and 1 to 2 mm wide, lanceolate to ovate, with inner tepals often bearing a distinctive triangular shape or tubercle at the tip. Each flower contains six stamens with filaments about 3 to 4 mm long and yellowish anthers approximately 1 to 2 mm long. Pistils number three per flower, each slender and about 4 to 5 mm long, with bifid styles. Fruits are three-sided achenes about 4 to 6 mm long, dark brown to black at maturity, enclosed by the persistent inner perianth. Mexican dock is native to South Dakota and occurs in moist open habitats, disturbed sites, and along waterways, scattered throughout the state.

  Synonym: Rumex salicifolius var. mexicanus

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  Polygonaceae : Rumex venosus

  R. Neil Reese

  Rumex venosus is a perennial herb from a branching rhizome with erect, branching, reddish, flowering stems that grow 15–40 cm tall. The simple, alternate, petiolate, cauline leaves are lanceolate to ovate, 3–10 cm long with thick leathery blades that are pointed at the tip. The lower most leaves are generally reduced in size. The inflorescence is a panicle with few branches, becoming showy in fruit. The perfect flowers have 2 whorls of tepals 3-4 mm long at anthesis, with 6 stamens and 1 pistil. The outer 3 tepals remain small, the inner tepals (valves), enlarge with the fruit development, becoming reddish, 20–45 mm long orbicular with a cordate-base and lacking growths (tubercles). The fruit are light brown achenes, 5-7 mm long. Wild begonia blooms from April into July on sandy dunes and riverbanks in southern and western South Dakota.

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  Portulacaceae : Lewisia pygmaea

  R. Neil Reese

  Lewisia pygmaea is a small perennial herbaceous plant forming low mats or small rosettes typically 2 to 10 cm tall. It has a fleshy, thickened taproot (caudex). The stems are short and mostly absent or very reduced, often hidden among the leaves. Leaves are basal, simple, fleshy, and linear to spatulate, measuring about 1 to 4 cm long and 2 to 5 mm wide. Leaf margins are entire, and surfaces are smooth and succulent. The inflorescence is a solitary flower or small cluster of flowers on short stalks, flowering from late spring to early summer (May–July). Flowers are star-shaped with 5 to 9 petals, each petal about 5 to 12 mm long and 3 to 6 mm wide, broadly ovate to spatulate, and typically white to pale pink with darker pink or reddish veins. The calyx consists of 5 to 7 sepals that are narrow and lanceolate, about 3 to 6 mm long, often reddish or greenish. The flowers have numerous stamens and a superior ovary. The fruit is a capsule that releases many small seeds. In South Dakota, Alpine bitterroot is native and found in alpine and subalpine rocky outcrops and well-drained mountainous soils in the Black Hills region.

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  Primulaceae : Dodecatheon pulchellum

  R. Neil Reese

  Dodecatheon pulchellum is a perennial herb growing from white, fibrous roots and having erect flowering stems (scapes) that reach up to 50 cm in height. The simple leaves arise from a woody caudex, forming a basal rosette. The oblanceolate to spatulate leaf blades are gradually tapered into a petiole, 4-25 cm long including the petiole, 1-6 cm wide, with entire margins. The inflorescence is a few to many flowered umbel, subtended by a few bracts < 1.5 cm long, with pedicels 1-5 cm long at flowering. The calyx tube is 2-4 mm long with pointed lobes 2-6 mm long. the yellow and red corolla tube has magenta to lavender, reflexed lobes that are 9-20 mm long. the yellow stamens are inserted opposite the corolla lobes, fully protruding and surrounding the style. The fruit is a many-seeded cylindric to ovoid capsule, 7-17 mm long and 4-7 mm wide. Shootingstars bloom in May and June in moist prairie meadows and open woodlands in western South Dakota.

  Synonym: Primula pauciflora

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  Ranunculaceae: Aconitum columbianum

  R. Neil Reese

  Aconitum columbianum is a perennial herbaceous plant typically growing 30 to 100 centimeters tall with erect, unbranched to sparsely branched stems. Leaves are alternate, deeply palmately lobed, usually with 3 to 5 broad, pointed lobes, 5 to 12 centimeters long excluding petioles, which range from 3 to 8 centimeters long and are slender. Flowering occurs from midsummer to early fall, producing several large, showy flowers arranged in terminal racemes. Each flower measures about 3 to 5 centimeters long, with five sepals—the upper sepal forming a distinctive hood or “helmet” 2 to 3 centimeters long that is typically dark purple to blue, while the lateral sepals are smaller and petal-like, approximately 1 to 1.5 centimeters long. Petals are nectar-producing and hidden within the sepals, generally two petals having elongated nectaries curved beneath the hood, about 1 to 2 centimeters long. The flower contains numerous stamens with slender filaments and small anthers clustered around a superior ovary. The pistil consists of multiple free carpels (apocarpous), each with a single ovule, a short style, and stigma. Fruits develop as a cluster of follicles, each follicle 2 to 3 centimeters long and elongate, opening to release numerous small seeds by late summer. Columbian Monkshood favors moist, shady sites—streambanks, wet meadows, montane forests—at mid to high elevations across western North America, including the Black Hills of South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae: Actaea rubra

  R Neil Reese PhD

  Actaea rubra is a perennial herb 50-90 cm tall with a somewhat woody base. Stems usually unbranched, glabrous below and puberulent above. There are 1-3 alternate cauline leaves, pinnate to triternate-pinnate, the largest with a long petiole up to 16 cm long. The leaf blades are 15-35 cm long, the ultimate leaflets are broad and irregularly toothed. The inflorescence is a terminal raceme, 1-3 cm long in flower and up to 10 cm in fruit. The small flowers have 3-5 sepals, 2.4-3.7 mm long and 3-5 (10) white, spatulate petals, < 3.5 mm long, both rapidly lost after the flowers open. Baneberry has numerous stamens and a single pistil. The fruit are red or white 9-16 seeded berries, 7-13 mm in diameter. They bloom in May and June in moist soils in wooded areas along the western and easter borders of South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae: Anemone canadensis

  R. Neil Reese

  Anemone canadensis is a perennial herb, which grows 10 cm to 60 cm in height, growing from ascending caudices on long, thin rhizomes. The leaves are basal and mostly long-petioled with 3 to 5 lobes which are sharply toothed. The flowers have 5 (4-6) white, petal-like sepals which are obovate 10–20 mm long by 5–15 mm wide. There are 80-100 yellow stamens surrounding a cluster of pistils. The fruiting body is a cluster of achenes 9-16 mm long by 12-19 mm wide. Meadow anemone blooms from May to July in moist prairies, woodlands and meadows throughout much of South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae: Anemone cylindrica

  R. Neil Reese

  Anemone cylindrica is a perennial herbaceous forb that grows from a stout caudex forming clumps. The pubescent stems are upright growing 30–70 cm tall. The leaves cauline are 3-7 lobed 2.5 – 6.5 cm long with petioles from 1-5 cm long. The leaf lobes are jaggedly toothed and pubescent, especially on the bottom. The basal leaves are similarly shaped, 5-14 cm wide with petioles that reach 21 cm in length. The flowers are 1-7 in number 1.5-2 cm in diameter, with 4-6 white sepals and bloom in June and July. There are numerous stamens and a cylindrical arrangement of pistils. In fruit te achenes are arrayed on a cylinder 1.5-3.5 cm long and 7-11 mm wide. The achenes are covered by a wooly white pubescence. Candle anemone can be found throughout South Dakota growing in open prairies and pastures.

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  Ranunculaceae : Aquilegia canadensis

  R Neil Reese

  Aquilegia canadensis is a perennial herb growing 30 to 100 cm tall from a stout caudex. The stems are hollow, smooth to covered with small glandular hairs towards the tops. Stems come from clusters of ternate basal leave and have alternate biternate (occasionally triternate) leaves on the flowering stems. The individual lobes are wedge-shaped and shallowly to deeply lobed. The showy flowers are nodding, regular, 2-5 cm long from tips of the stamens to the ends of the spurs and 1.7-4.3 cm wide. Five rose to dull red colored sepals, 0.9-2 cm long alternate with 5 petals, that are red toward the base and yellowish on the upper parts. The base is formed into a narrow spur that is slightly enlarged at the tip and measure 2-3.6 cm long from the end of the spur to the opening at the upper end. The stamens are numerous and exerted from the corolla. There are 5 carpels that mature into 5 follicles, 1.2-3 cm long with a styler beak that is 0.9-1.8 cm in length and contain several small black seeds. Flowers bloom from April to June. The plants grow in moist soils in wooded areas in several eastern and western counties in South Dakota.