Thalictrum dioicum (early meadow rue)

Thalictrum dioicum L.

Early meadow rue, quicksilver-weed, early meadowrue

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Magnoliidae	Includes magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, and many others
Order	Ranunculales	Basal (evolved earlier) eudicots, also called “true dicots”
Family	Ranunculaceae	Buttercup family
Genus	Thalictrum	From Greek qaliktron (thaliktron), a “plant with divided leaves”
Species	dioicum	Plants are dioecious (male and female flowers are on separate plants)

About plant names...

Early meadow rue is native to North America.

Identification: Plants are 12-31" (30-80 cm) tall. Leaves are blue-green, rounded, with three lobes at the far end, each leaflet ⅜-1¾" (1-4.5 cm) wide. Flowers occur in loosely spaced groups. They do not have petals, just sepals ¹/₁₆-⅛" (1.8-4 mm) long, greenish or yellowing, sometimes with a purple tint.

Online References:

Thalictrum dioicum on

Thalictrum dioicum on Missouriplants.com

Thalictrum dioicum on Wikipedia

Thalictrum dioicum at the Missouri Botanical Garden

Thalictrum dioicum on Southeastern Flora, the Southeastern U.S. Plant Identification Resource

Thalictrum dioicum at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Thalictrum dioicum on

Thalictrum dioicum on the USDA Forest Service's Fire Effects Information Database

Thalictrum dioicum on eFloras

Thalictrum dioicum description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.