Heuchera richardsonii

Native

Dry to moderate moisture. Bluffs, prairies, woods openings, jack pine barrens, cedar glades, roadsides; especially along major rivers. Full sun to light shade.

Late May to late July

Green or greenish-white

12″ to 36″

This is a 12″ to 36″ tall, erect, perennial forb that rises on a rosette of basal leaves and several flowering stems (scapes) from a short, stout rootstock that divides into coarse roots.

The leaves are all basal. They are on long, slender, hairy leaf stalks. The hairs on the leaf stalks are white, straight, stiff, and spreading. The blades are 3″ to 5″ wide and roughly circular with a heart-shaped base. They are palmately lobed with 7 or 9 shallow lobes. Each lobe has 3 to 5 small, rounded, secondary lobes (lobules). The lobules are tipped with an abrupt, short, sharp point. The upper surface is hairless or nearly hairless. The lower surface is hairy at least on the veins.

The scape is leafless with a few small, scale-like bracts, and is covered with straight, stiff, spreading, white hairs. The hairs near the top are glandular.

The inflorescence is a narrow, branched, congested cluster at the end of the scape.

The flowers are ⅛″ about long. There are 5 green sepals fused at the base into an asymmetrical, bell-shaped tube (calyx tube) and separated at the tip into 5 unequal lobes. The upper surface of the calyx tube is ¼″ to ⅜″ long and overhangs the lower surface which is half as long. There are 5 inconspicuous, green or greenish-white petals that do not protrude from the calyx tube. There are 5 stamens with orange anthers that extend well beyond the calyx tube. There is no floral scent.

The fruit is a small, elliptic, 2-beaked capsule. The seeds are tiny, egg-shaped, with 1 or 2 flattened faces.

There are 36 species of Heuchera in the United States. This is the only species that occurs in Minnesota.

Bishop’s cap (Mitella diphylla) scapes have a pair of opposite leaves. The inflorescence is unbranched. The petals are conspicuous and fringed, with the appearance of a snowflake. There are 10 stamens.

Heartleaf foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia var. cordifolia) leaves have 3 to 5 lobes. The inflorescence is unbranched. The petals are larger than the sepals and conspicuous. There are 10 stamens. It is found in wooded areas in partial or full shade.

Small bishop’s cap (Mitella nuda) scapes may have one leaf. The inflorescence is unbranched. The petals are conspicuous and fringed, with the appearance of a snowflake. There are 10 stamens. It is found in forests or bogs on wet soil.

Sullivant's coolwort (Sullivantia sullivantii) scapes have 1 or 2 leaves. It is found in shade on wet soil.