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Tall Meadow Rue

Thalictrum polygamum. Crowfoot Family.

Four to eight feet high. Leaves.--Divided into many firm, rounded leaf-lets. Flowers.--White; in large clusters; some perfect, others unisexual, Calyx.--Of four or five small petal-like sepals which usually fall off very early. Corolla.--None. Stamens.--Numerous. Pistils.--Four to fifteen. When a stream trails its sluggish length through the fields of midsummer, its way is oftentimes marked by the tall meadow rue, the feathery, graceful flower-clusters of which erect themselves serenely above the myriad blossoms which are making radiant the wet meadows at this season. For here, too, we may search for the purple flag and fringed orchis, the yellow meadow lily, the pink swamp milkweed, each charming in its way, but none with the cool beauty of the meadow rue. The staminate flowers of this plant are especially delicate and feathery.