Roundleaf Alumroot (Heuchera Cylindrica)

Tygh Creek Trail, Badger Creek Wilderness, OR, 5/2016.

Roundleaf Alumroot is a demure relative of the bold colored Heucheras one finds in home gardens.This hardy plant found in rocky outcroppings at all elevations, has a modest raceme densely packed cream-colored flowers. Although its leaves are more lobed than round, its tall flower stem may be the source of another common name, Poker Heuchera. It has a strong resemblance to Elmera, another Saxifrage family member that was once, but is no longer, considered a Heuchera.

H. Cylindrica is unique to the northwest (if you include Idaho and western Montana). Other common Heucheras in our area include two “cloud of flowers” varieties, H. glabra and H. micrantha, which although we struggle to distinguish (and thus post), are often found in profusion.

Alum, a common name for members of the Heuchera genus, was used by Native americans (who then taught early colonists) to stop a wound from bleeding.