Description

Key Information:

Soil: Hydric (Wet) – Mesic (Medium)
Sun: Full Sun – Part Sun
Height: 1-3 feet
Bloom Color: Light Green
Bloom Season: April – May

More Details:

Suggested Uses: Blue Cohosh is an excellent ground cover in woodland gardens. Flowers are fairly inconspicuous but give rise to showy, deep purple-blue fruits mid-summer.  It is a great plant for the woodland garden and very useful for a wooded shoreline. Grows well under evergreens.

Native Range: Native to the Great Lakes, Appalachia and New England.

Pollinators: Bumblebees. Important early-spring bloom.

Flowers: The 1/2″ flowers have 6 pointed sepals, 6 smaller petals, and bloom in a loose 2″ cluster.

Leaves: There are 2 leaves, each divided into up to 27 leaflets. The leaflets have 3-5 pointed lobes.

Interesting Facts:

Food Uses: The berries are poisonous.

Name: The leaves are similar to Meadow Rue, so it was given the species name “thalictroides.” “Cohosh” is from the Algonquin language, equating to “rough,” in reference to the roots.

More information: USDA plant profile