Valerianella chenopodiifolia (Pursh) DC.

Locations ofValerianella chenopodiifolia (Pursh) DC. in Virginia

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Detail

Family
Caprifoliaceae
Botanical Name
Valerianella chenopodiifolia (Pursh) DC.
Common Name
Goosefoot Corn-salad
Synonym(s)
Flora of Virginia Name/Status
Valerianella chenopodifolia (Pursh) DC.
Comments
This species has a somewhat limited range in the ne. US, centered in nw. West Virginia, w. Pennsylvania, and e. Ohio, with scattered outliers ranging into New York, the upper Midwest, and Canada. It was unknown in Virginia until identified among herbarium specimens by Donna M.E. Ware in 2004. Those specimens were from the Tumbling Creek area on Clinch Mountain, where the species apparently reaches its southern range limits. In 2019, Virginia Natural Heritage Program ecologists confirmed that Valerianella chenopodiifolia is still extant, and quite common, along Tumbling Creek, and also located new populations along the New River. Like other Valerianella spp., V. chenopodiifolia has somewhat weedy tendencies and may be more widely scattered than collections indicate since it is similar to both V. umbilicata and V. radiata. It differs from its congeners by having fruits that are 3-sided in cross section and uppermost leaves that are acute with glabrous margins (except for a few cilia at the base).
Habitat
Clearings, road banks, and rich open forests along Tumbling Creek, on the southeastern flank of Clinch Mountain (Smyth and Washington counties); also in similar habitats along the New River Trail in Wythe County. Rare, sw. mountains.
Native Status
Native

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