Mountain Meadow-rue
Thalictrum clavatum
Found in seepages, moist forests, spray cliffs at waterfalls, brookbanks. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 2 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full shade
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- May to July
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 1 West Virginia county.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits
Cliffs, ledges, rock outcrops, talus and rocky summits where the source does not name the rock. A named rock files the place under its own glade or outcrop type instead.
Who uses this plant?
15CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Thalictrum
- Calyptra canadensisCanadian Owlet, Meadow Rue Owlet
- Eosphoropteryx thyatyroidesPink-Patched Looper Moth
- Eugonobapta nivosariaSnowy Geometer
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Herpetogramma pertextalisBold-Feathered Grass Moth
- Lacanobia subjunctaSpeckled Arches, Subdues Arches, Harnessed Mamestra, Speckled Cutworm Moth, Grand Arches?(incorrectly)
- Lithophane unimodaDowdy Pinion
- Melanchra adjunctaHitched Arches
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Papaipema unimodaMeadow Rue Borer, Chain Fern Border Moth
Show all 15
- Pseudeva purpurigeraStraight-Lined Looper Moth
- Trichodezia albovittataWhite-Striped Black
- Xanthotype sospetaCrocus Geometer
- Xestia c-nigrumSpotted Cut-Worm, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Lesser Black-letter Dart
- Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
1BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Thalictrum
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Thalictrum
- Bonasa umbellusRuffed Grouse
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- Flower color
- White
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to July” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 2 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full shade (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “white” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Mountain Meadow Rue
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | S2 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4 |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- NatureServe Explorer
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- West Virginia occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

