| Author | L. | |
| Distribution | Throughout the Mountains, and possibly the upper reaches of the Piedmont; disjunct to a few sites in the eastern Piedmont (Orange and Durham counties). As the species occurs widely over the VA Piedmont, more records for the northern Piedmont of NC are to be expected.
This is a Northern species, ranging across Canada and south to PA and IA, and southward mainly in the Appalachians to northern GA.
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| Abundance | Frequent to common in most of the Mountains; extremely rare in the northeastern Piedmont (extant in Orange County as of 2003). | |
| Habitat | This is a characteristic species of upland montane hardwood forests, typically in dry to mesic, and often rocky, sites. It grows mostly in the middle and upper elevations in that region. |
| Phenology | Blooms from May to July, and fruits shortly after flowering. | |
| Identification | This is a rather unique species, different from others in the genus. It has a separate stalk just for the flower clusters, reaching about 1.5 feet tall, and a separate stalk just for the "leaf" -- a stem with three "leaves" branching from the same node, and each one has about 5 leaflets, each one elliptical to lanceolate and about 2 inches long and 1-inch wide, with serrated margins. (Some references say this is just one tripartite leaf, with each of the 3 divisions broken into 5 pinnate sub-leaflets.) The flowering stem, usually held below the level of the "leaf", contains several rounded umbels at the end, each with tiny white to greenish white flowers. Each umbel is "ball-shaped" and about 1-inch across. Thus, this is a striking plant, with the rounded flower clusters on a single naked stalk, and the divided leaflets on a separate stalk. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None, though Weakley (2018) suggests that it "probably warrants removal to a separate, monotypic genus".
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| Other Common Name(s) | None. Remember than the name is pronounced as "sas-pa-RILL-a"! | |
| State Rank | S4 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FACU link |
| USACE-emp | FACU link |
