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For Your Garden - February 2020

Native plants provide beauty as well as food and shelter for wildlife. Native species are adapted to the Illinois climate. They require little or no watering and are resistant to drought, insects and most diseases. Because they are perennials, you can welcome their presence year after year.

tall alumroot (Heuchera americana)

Tall alumroot may be found in the southern two-thirds of Illinois as well as in Cook and Jo Daviess counties. It grows in dry woodlands. Flowers are produced in May and June. The flowers are bell-shaped. They hang down from small stems on a long, flowering stalk. The petals are generally green but may show some red. Flowering stalks may reach two to three feet in height. The leaves are basal and have an appearance somewhat like maple tree leaves.

Classification and taxonomy are based on Mohlenbrock, Robert H. 2014. Vascular flora of Illinois: A field guide. Fourth edition. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. 536 pp.

Illinois Range

Native Plant Information

For more information about Illinois native plants, visit our Native Habitat Descriptions, Requirements, and Plant Lists page. The following publications are available from the IDNR on our publications page.

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Saxifragaceae

Illinois Status: common, native