Common Name: meadow rue
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Ranunculaceae
Native Range: Asia, northern Africa, Caucasus
Zone: 6 to 9
Height: 3.00 to 5.00 feet
Spread: 2.00 to 4.00 feet
Bloom Time: July to August
Bloom Description: Yellow-green
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Medium
Suggested Use: Naturalize
Flower: Showy
Culture
Grow in moist, moderately fertile, organically rich, well-drained soil in part shade. Tolerates full sun as long as soils are kept consistently moist. Less vigorous growth typically occurs in full shade. Plant foliage usually turns yellow if soils are allowed to dry in summer. May be grown from seed and will self-seed in optimum growing conditions.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Thalictrum bushianum, commonly known as meadow rue, is a rhizomatous, clump-forming perennial of the buttercup family that typically grows on dichotomously branched stems to 3-5’ tall. It is native to forests, forest margins and alpine meadows in the Caucasus, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Tiny, starry, apetalous, bisexual flowers (each to 1/3” across) with yellow-tinged-green sepals bloom July and August in fluffy, many-flowered inflorescences (panicles). Flower color comes from the color of the sepals and stamens. Three or four-pinnate green leaves with ovate lobed leaflets (to 1” long).
Correct botanical name for this plant is unresolved according to both The Plant List and Tropicos. Some sources claim it is a synonym of Thalictrum minus subsp. maxwellii.
Genus name comes from the Greek word thaliktron which was a name used by Dioscorides to describe a plant in this genus.
Plants in the genus Thalictrum are commonly called meadow rue in reference to the similarity of their leaves to the leaves of common rue (Ruta graveolens).
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Powdery mildew, smut and rust may appear.
Uses
Borders, meadows, cottage gardens, open woodland areas.