DACF Home → Bureaus & Programs → Maine Natural Areas Program → Communities, Plants, and Animals → Rare Plants → Cryptotaenia canadensis
Cryptotaenia canadensis (L.) DC.
Wild Chervil
- State Rank: SH
- Global Rank: G5
- State Status: Potentially Extirpated
Habitat: Rich woods and thickets, typically in floodplains. [Hardwood to mixed forest (forest, upland)]
Range: New Brunswick to Manitoba, south to New England, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas.
Aids to Identification: This perennial herb grows to 0.3-1 m in height and has leaves with 3 entire to lobed leaflets. The small white flowers are arranged in umbels with pedicels of unequal length. Fruit is slender and ribbed, 4-6 mm in length.
Ecological characteristics: This species is historically known in Maine to occur in woods and thickets along streams and rivers.
Phenology: Flowers June - September.
Family: Apiaceae
Synonyms: Deringa canadensis (L.) Kuntze.
Known Distribution in Maine: This rare plant has historically been documented from a total of 4 town(s) in the following county(ies): Kennebec, Somerset.
Reason(s) for rarity: Unclear; not rare in most parts of its range.
Conservation considerations: Unknown; this plant has not been seen in Maine for decades.