Coptis trifolia (L.) Salisb.
three-leaved goldthread (threeleaf goldthread)
Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
three-leaved goldthread (threeleaf goldthread)
Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a yellow to orange rhizome; stems erect, 3-12 cm tall, not elongating in fruit, minutely-hairy above.
Leaves:
Evergreen, all basal, stalked, 2-11 cm long, 3-parted, the leaflets unstalked or short-stalked, egg-shaped, 1-2 cm long, slightly lobed, toothed, bases wedge-shaped.
Flowers:
Inflorescence 1-flowered, erect; bracts minute; flower stalks 1-4 cm long; petals 5-7, half the length of sepals, club-shaped, fleshy, hollowed and with nectary near tip; sepals usually 5, whitish, spreading, oblanceolate to egg-shaped or elliptic, 4-11 mm long, 1-4 mm wide; stamens 30-60.
Fruits:
Follicles, 4 to 7, spreading, elliptic, 4-8 mm long, on stalks equal to or longer than fruit; beaks straight but hooked at tip, 2-4 mm long; seeds dark, ellipsoid, 1-1.5 mm long, appearing wrinkled.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Coptis trifolia
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
438 | 0 | 2120 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
10 | 0 | 75 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
35 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 1 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
212 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CWH | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(1), BWBS(5), CWH(138), ESSF(13), ICH(35), MH(11), MS(2), PP(1), SBS(3), SWB(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Wet forests and bogs in the lowland and montane zones; frequent W of the Coast-Cascade Mountains in BC, rare eastward; amphiberingian, N to AK, E to NF, and S to ME, WV, and MN; Siberia, Japan.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Coptis groenlandica (Oeder) Fern.
Coptis trifolia subsp. groenlandica (Oeder) HultTn
Coptis trifolia subsp. trifolia
Coptis trifolia var. groenlandica (Oeder) Fassett