GOINGnative

Tassle-Rue or False Bugbane (Trautvetteria caroliniensis)

By Barry Glick

I took my kids to the “ol’ swimmin’ hole” about five miles east of my farm on Spring Creek. This is an idyllic spot where the “crick” makes a sharp bend and over the centuries has created a deep chasm etched out of the hard shale cliffs on the south bank. I waded across the creek to the cliffs in faint hope of seeing something unusual. I was slowly emerging from the ice-cold water, reaching out to grab hold of the slippery rocks as I smelled a sweet fragrance. It was a new scent to this large proboscis. Something slightly familiar, yet somewhat mysterious. Glancing up, I spotted the origin straight ahead. At first glance, I thought I’d discovered a new species of Thalictrum. We have six species in West Virginia and I thought I knew them all. Immediately, my mind raced ahead to the future, Thalictrum glickii. Wow, what a nice ring it has. At last—my 15 minutes of fame! But that was until I got beyond the icy-white, fragrant, feathery flowers. Looking at the foliage, I was still positive that I was in the Ranunculaceae (Buttercup) family, but the glossy, dark-green, deeply lobed leaves sure looked like a Trollius. Now in WV, we have no Trollius species, so the mystery deepened. In fact, the only Trollius species that I know of that is native to the U.S. is Trollius laxus and I think that the closest station for that is in PA. That’s also a much shorter plant with soft, muted yellow flowers and it blooms very early in the spring. With thousands of seedlings growing in every moist crack of the cliff, I had no qualms about borrowing a few to bring them back to the nursery for identification, evaluation, and growing in the garden. As soon as I got home, I ran to my library, grabbed my copy of Flora of West Virginia, and began to confirm my knowledge of the genus Thalictrum. There, on same page as Thalictrum, I discovered my new find. I realized that I wasn’t that far off base in thinking that it was a Thalictrum, since the common name for Thalictrum is “Meadow Rue” and one of Trautvetteria caroliniensis’s common names is “TasselRue.” The description, cites 20 of 55 local counties as home. With this initial phase of my investigation coming to a close, it was time to start thinking about this new plant in the sense of garden worthiness. To be sure, many wild plants are better left in the wild, and for what I initially suspected would be the same reason that I would be unable to find a suitable spot in my own garden for Trautvetteria: no real wet area. It would have been the same lament as for not being able to successfully grow Veratrum viride, a sexy bog plant in the lily family, or what you may know in the common realm as “False Green Hellebore.” Why it has that common name, I don’t know, but that’s the problem with common names. I posted an email to a plant enthusiasts’ list. Sure enough, I got about a dozen replies to my question regarding experience growing Trautvetteria in the garden, with overwhelming confirmation that it dots not require a particularly wet area, just good garden soil, rich in organic matter, and a good mulch to conserve moisture in dry periods. One person on Long Island said that it “gently self-sows” in her garden. I also called Dr. Dick Lighty, director of the Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware. He said that they’ve been growing Trautvetteria successfully for many years in the garden and wondered, as did I at this point, why it was unavailable in the nursery trade. In fact, while looking in the most comprehensive plant availability directory in the U.S., Anderson’s Source Guide, I noticed that only one source was listed for the plant. In the Plantfinder, the source book for the UK, there was no entry.

Trautvetteria forms a 6- to 10-inch plant with a much taller flower stem. Some seemed to reach up to 36 inches. It prefers light to medium shade, but could probably take some direct sun. It flowers over a long period and seems to peak in late June to mid-July. I went back to its home this weekend and placed several muslin drawstring bags over the flower heads to collect seeds. After seeing all of the seedlings under the plants, I’m confident that it’s easily grown from seed. This plant deserves some publicity and a home in every native or wild garden. o

Barry Glick, a transplanted Philadelphian, has been residing in Greenbrier County, WV, since 1972. His mountaintop garden and nursery is a mecca for gardeners from virtually every country in the world. He writes and lectures extensively about native plants and Hellebores, his two main specialties, and welcomes visitors with advance notice. He can be reached at barry@sunfarm.com, www. sunfarm.com, or 304.497.2208..