Moschatel is a tiny spring wildflower whose green flowers form a little cube: one flower faces up and four face outward. In the United States it grows in moist, rich woods in Alaska, the Rocky Mountains, and the northern states, and it is uncommon in many places. It is also called muskroot and town-hall clock.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A small perennial, 2–6 in (5–15 cm) tall, growing from white creeping .
- Leaves
- Long-stalked basal leaves are divided into threes, then divided again. The flower stalk carries one pair of three-parted leaves near the middle.
- Flowers
- Yellowish-green flowers about 1/4–1/3 in across. The top flower usually has 4 petals and the side flowers 5. They are said to smell faintly of musk, especially in the evening.
- Flowering time
- April to May in Minnesota.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- moist hardwood forests
- cool, shaded talus slopes
- Range
- Native around the Northern Hemisphere. In the US it is recorded from Alaska and the Rocky Mountains (Colorado, New Mexico) east across the Upper Midwest to New York, where it grows only locally in the Catskills. In Minnesota it occurs in the southeastern and northeastern counties.
- Preferred conditions
- Prefers part shade to shade and moist, rich soil.
- Flowering
Flowers Apr–May
Flowers Apr–May
Growing it
- Propagation
- Seeds drop close to the parent, so it spreads mostly by underground stems, forming small patches.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
- Status
- It is rare in some states: New York lists it as endangered, and Minnesota took it off its special-concern list in 2013 after surveys found more plants than expected. In Minnesota, invasive buckthorn, garlic mustard, and Japanese barberry degrade its forest habitat.
More species to explore
Record what you meet and build your own collection
Your photos are kept with their date and place, and you can fill regional albums one species at a time.