{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Thalictrum flavum0.jpg | image_caption = ''Thalictrum flavum'' | taxon = Thalictrum | authority = Tourn. ex L. | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text }}
'''''Thalictrum''''' ({{IPAc-en|pron|θ|ə|ˈ|l|ɪ|k|t|r|ə|m}}) is a genus of 120-200 species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, native mostly to temperate regions.<ref>{{eFloras|1|132688|Thalictrum |first1=Marilyn M. |last1=Park |first2=Dennis |last2=Festerling Jr. |family=Ranunculaceae}}</ref> '''Meadow-rue''' is a common name for plants in this genus.<ref>{{PLANTS |id=THALI2 |taxon=Thalictrum |accessdate=9 December 2015}}</ref>
''Thalictrum'' is a taxonomically difficult genus with poorly understood species boundaries; it is in need of further taxonomic and field research for clarification.
Despite their common name of "meadow-rue", ''Thalictrum'' species are not closely related to the true rue (family Rutaceae), but resemble its members in having compound leaves twice or thrice divided.<ref name="Stace">{{Cite book |last=Stace |first=C. A. |author-link=Stace, C. A. |title=New Flora of the British Isles |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |isbn=9780521707725 |edition=Third |location=Cambridge, U.K.}}</ref>{{rp|120}}
== Description == Meadow-rue leaves are alternate, bipinnately compound, and commonly glaucous blue-green in colour.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
The flowers are small and apetalous (no petals), but have numerous long stamens, often brightly white, yellow, pink or pale purple, and are produced in conspicuous dense inflorescences. In some species (e.g. ''T. chelidonii'', ''T. tuberosum''), the sepals are large, brightly coloured and petal-like, but in most they are small and fall when the flower opens or soon after.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
==Habitat and distribution== Meadow-rues are usually found in shaded or damp locations, with a sub-cosmopolitan range throughout most of the Northern Hemisphere and also south to southern Africa and tropical South America, but absent from Australasia. They are most common in temperate regions of the world; twenty-two species are found in North America.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
==Ecology== Anemophily (wind pollination) is a characteristic of some members this genus, as seen in ''Thalictrum fendleri'' and ''Thalictrum dioicum''. Others, such as ''Thalictrum sparsiflorum'', are entomophilous (pollinated by insects).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Steven |first1=Janet |last2=Waller |first2=Donald |date=2004 |title=Reproductive alternatives to insect pollination in four species of Thalictrum (Ranunculaceae) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227512644 |journal=Plant Species Biology |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=73–80 |doi=10.1111/j.1442-1984.2004.00103.x |bibcode=2004PSBio..19...73S |access-date=6 December 2018}}</ref>
''Thalictrum'' species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the Setaceous Hebrew Character moth.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}
==Chemical constituents== In addition to alkaloids, ''Thalictrum'' species produce many other classes of metabolites, including triterpenoids and triterpenoid glycosides, flavonoids, cyanogenic glycosides, hydrocarbons, alcohols with high molecular weight, fatty acids, phenolic compounds and sterols.<ref name="Kham">{{Cite journal |last1=Khamidullina |first1=Elena A. |last2=Gromova |first2=Alexandra S. |last3=Lutsky |first3=Vladislav I. |last4=Owen |first4=Noel L. |year=2006 |title=Natural products from medicinal plants: non-alkaloidal natural constituents of the Thalictrum species |journal=Natural Product Reports |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=117–129 |doi=10.1039/b504014k |issn=0265-0568 |pmid=16453035}}</ref><ref name="Khamid">{{Cite journal |last1=Khamidullina |first1=Elena A. |last2=Gromova |first2=Alexandra S. |last3=Lutsky |first3=Vladislav I. |last4=Owen |first4=Noel L. |date=2006 |title=Natural products from medicinal plants: non-alkaloidal natural constituents of the Thalictrum species |journal=ChemInform |volume=37 |issue=22 |doi=10.1002/chin.200622292 |issn=0931-7597}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=September 2023}} Typical natural products found in this genus are benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, such as magnoflorine, hernandezine, and the structurally related alkaloid berberine.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}
== Selected species == {{div col|colwidth = 20em}} * ''Thalictrum alpinum'' – alpine meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum aquilegiifolium'' – greater meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum chelidonii'' * ''Thalictrum cooleyi'' – Cooley's meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum coreanum'' * ''Thalictrum clavatum'' - mountain meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum dasycarpum'' * ''Thalictrum delavayi'' – Chinese meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum dioicum'' – early meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum fendleri'' – Fendler's meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum filamentosum'' * ''Thalictrum flavum'' – yellow or common meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum grandiflorum'' * ''Thalictrum hamatum'' * ''Thalictrum heliophilum'' – cathedral meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum integrilobum'' * ''Thalictrum kiusianum'' – Kyushu meadow-rue, dwarf meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum minus'' – lesser meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum occidentale'' – western meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum oligandrum'' * ''Thalictrum przewalskii'' * ''Thalictrum pubescens'' * ''Thalictrum revolutum'' - waxyleaf meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum robustum'' * ''Thalictrum rochebruneanum'' – lavender mist meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum sparsiflorum'' – fewflower meadow-rue * ''Thalictrum speciosissimum'' * ''Thalictrum thalictroides'' – rue-anemone (syn. ''Anemonella thalictroides'') * ''Thalictrum tuberosum'' * ''Thalictrum tuberiferum'' * ''Thalictrum uncatum'' * ''Thalictrum urbainii'' {{div col end}}
==Cultivation== ''Thalictrum'' species are valued as ornamental garden plants, with their sprays of flowers in delicate shades. The following cultivars, with mixed or unknown parents, have received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit: * 'Black Stockings'<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Thalictrum'' 'Black Stockings' |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/221893/Thalictrum-Black-Stockings/Details |access-date=5 March 2021 |publisher=RHS}}</ref> * 'Elin'<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Thalictrum'' 'Elin' |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/143574/Thalictrum-Elin/Details |access-date=5 March 2021 |publisher=RHS}}</ref> * 'Splendide White' (Fr21034)<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Thalictrum'', 'Splendide White' = 'Fr21034' |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/343696/Thalictrum-Splendide-White-Fr21034-(PBR)/Details |access-date=5 March 2021 |publisher=RHS}}</ref> * 'Tukker Princess'<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Thalictrum'' 'Tukker Princess' |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/309046/Thalictrum-Tukker-Princess/Details |access-date=5 March 2021 |publisher=RHS}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery> Thalictrum aquilegifolium, RBGE 2010, 3.jpg|''Thalictrum aquilegiifolium'' Thalictrum chelidonii03.jpg|''Thalictrum chelidonii'' Thalictrum coreanum2.jpg|''Thalictrum coreanum'' Thalictrum dasycarpum 1-eheep (5098007362).jpg|''Thalictrum dasycarpum'' Thalictrum delavayi.jpg|''Thalictrum delavayi'' flowers Thalictrum dioicum (1).jpg|Early meadow-rue (''Thalictrum dioicum'') Thalictrum filamentosum 1.jpg|''Thalictrum filamentosum'' Thalictrum flavum1.jpg|''Thalictrum flavum'' leaves Thalictrum glaucum0.jpg|''Thalictrum glaucum'' flowers Thalictrum kiusianum1.jpg|''Thalictrum kiusianum'' Thalictrumoccidentale1.jpg|Female flowers of ''Thalictrum occidentale'' Thalictrum rochebrunnianum.jpg|''Thalictrum rochebrunnianum'' Thalictrum thalictroides - Rue Anemone.jpg|Rue-anemone (''Thalictrum thalictroides'') Thalictrum tuberosum 1.JPG|''Thalictrum tuberosum'' Thalictrum urbainii1.jpg|''Thalictrum urbainii'' </gallery>
== References == {{Commons category}} {{Wikispecies}} {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q157177}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Thalictrum Category:Ranunculaceae genera Category:Taxa named by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort