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Sweet After Death
( Achlys triphylla )
Achlys triphylla
More Photos at CalPhotos
More Info at Jepson eFlora
Calflora
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3 Nurseries Carry This Plant
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About Sweet After Death (Achlys triphylla)
3 Nurseries Carry This Plant
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Achlys is a small genus of flowering plants in the barberry family, which it shares with genera such as Berberis and Vancouveria. There are either two or three species, depending on the authority.
Achlys triphylla
and
Achlys californica
are both native to western North America. Another Achlys is found in Japan: some authorities treat this as a subspecies of A. triphylla, while others, especially in older treatments, call this Achlys japonica. Still others consider A. triphylla and A. californica too similar to be separate species. The common names for these plants include vanilla leaf (sometimes written as vanilla-leaf or vanillaleaf, depending on the taxonomist or flora) and deer's foot .
Achlys triphylla
(Sm.) DC, known in western North America as vanillaleaf, is an erect perennial plant that sprouts from a creeping rhizome. Leaves are long-petioled and palmately divided into three leaflets. Flowers are small and lack sepals and petals, but instead have long showy white stamens that form single erect spikes. The leaflets give a great hint to the identity the plant: bend back the middle leaflet and you have an upside-down set of moose antlers. Alternatively, bend back the two side leaflets and you have a goose or deer foot (hence the common name). In the Pacific Northwest,
Achlys triphylla
is ubiquitous in moist shady forests west of the Cascades at low to middle elevations from Vancouver island and southern British Columbia south to northern California. The plants are spaced widely on the rhizomes, but often overlap in large networks that result in carpets of Achlys that dominate the near-surface understory. Achlys seems to prefer moist soil, so at middle to higher elevations it is easier to find them along streambanks or well-shaded ravines.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Perennial herb
Size
1.3 ft tall
Flower Color
Cream, White
Flowering Season
Spring, Summer
Wildlife Supported
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 1
confirmed
)
SHOW ALL
Sweetclover Root Borer Moth
Walshia miscecolorella
Walshia miscecolorella
Landscaping Information
Sun
Part Shade
Nurseries
Carried by 3
Ease of Care
Moderately Easy
Soil Description
Prefers moist soil
Common uses
Groundcovers
Natural Setting
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 21.8" - 153.3", Summer Precipitation: 0.40" - 5.84", Coldest Month: 35.6" - 49.8", Hottest Month: 53.0" - 74.4", Humidity: 0.01" - 21.93", Elevation: 63" - 6587"
Alternative Names
Common Names
: Deervetch Vanillaleaf, Vanilla Leaf
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Sweet After Death
Achlys triphylla
Sources include:
Wikipedia
. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the
California Consortia of Herbaria
, Sunset information provided by
Jepson Flora Project
. Propogation from seed information provided by the
Santa Barbara Botanical Garden
from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include
CalPhotos
,
Wikimedia Commons
, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include
Calflora
,
CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online
,
Jepson Flora Project
,
Las Pilitas
,
Theodore Payne
,
Tree of Life
,
The Xerces Society
, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from
PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University
, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.
Links:
Jepson eFlora Taxon Page
CalPhotos
Wikipedia
Calflora
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