Thalictrum Thalictrum, L.

8. T. foetidum L. View in CoL , Sp. Pl. 545 (1753).

Glandular, foetid, shortly rhizomatous perennial 10-40 cm, with some long eglandular hairs. Basal leaves 3- to 4-ternate, without stipels; leaflets 2-4 mm, suborbicular or broadly ovate, irregularly dentate in the upper half. Inflorescence with long branches. Flowers yellow, pendent. Filaments slightly thickened. Stigma minutely fimbriate. Fruit erect; achenes c. 10, sessile, compressed, ovate in outline, strongly ribbed; beak nearly as long as achene. 2« = 14. Mountains of E., C. & S. W. Europe, westwards to E. Spain. Au Bu Cz Ga He Hs Hu It Ju Rm Rs (C, W).

The plants from the Pyrenees and Spain are devoid of eglandular hairs and may be T. minus subsp. pubescens (Schleicher ex DC.) Rouy & Fouc. They require further investigation.

All the remaining species are very variable and it is sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to identify a given specimen with certainty. Many more or less uniform populations have been described as species but they appear generally to be connected with one another by numerous intermediates. The variation-pattern is complicated by the common occurrence of the plants in small isolated populations which may, in rhizomatous species, often consist of single clones. All the populations which have been examined cytologically are polyploid and inbreeding or possibly apomixis may occur.