Eryngium yuccifolium (Rattlesnake Master): Minnesota Wildflowers

Eryngium yuccifolium (Rattlesnake Master)

Plant Info
Also known as:	Button Eryngo, Button Snakeroot
Genus:	Eryngium
Family:	Apiaceae (Carrot)
Life cycle:	perennial
Origin:	native
Status:	State Special Concern
Habitat:	sun; moist to dry sandy, loamy soil; prairies, open woods
Bloom season:	July - August
Plant height:	2 to 5 feet
MN county distribution (click map to enlarge):
National distribution (click map to enlarge):

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Detailed Information

Flower:

Whitish green globe-like flowerheads, ½ to ¾ inch wide, are arrayed in an orbital cluster at the end of a tall, smooth stalk. Each flower head is composed of numerous small flowers with 5 white petals, notched at the tip, 2 long white styles, and 5 white stamens with greenish to brown tips. Surrounding each flower are prickly floral bracts. At the base of the flower head is a whorl of leafy bracts, lance-like and prickly. A plant has a few to many clusters from the leaf axils and on branching stems in the upper part of the plant.

Leaves and stem:

Leaves are mostly basal, long and sword-like with parallel veins and tapering to a sharp point, up to 2½ feet long and only 1 inch wide with a few smaller leaves ascending the stem. Stem leaves are stiff, clasp the stem and typically wrap around it. Leaf surfaces are waxy, the edges either smooth or commonly with widely spaced, fine spiny teeth. Stems are hairless, blue-green, waxy, and ridged.

Fruit:

The flower heads turn purplish in the fall and eventually dry to a dark brown.

Seed is dark brown, 3-sided, just under 1/8 inch long, the layered remains of the floral bracts attached at the top on 2 sides with the third side smooth and flat.

Notes:

To any sense of observation, this one is a no-brainer as Rattlesnake Master is a unique plant—at first encounter it is startlingly different than most native plant forms. It also makes an excellent garden specimen as a durable perennial in most soil types with adequate sun. According to the DNR, while Rattlesnake Master does grow in a variety of habitats, in Minnesota—the northern edge of its natural range—it has limited itself to open prairies, which have all but disappeared. It was designated a Special Concern species in 1994.

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More photos

Photos by K. Chayka taken in Dodge county. Photos courtesy Peter M. Dziuk taken in Dodge county and a residential garden in Anoka county.

Comments

Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?

Posted by: Carrie in Victoria
on: 2011-07-17 14:23:10

I planted a few of these in my native garden a couple years ago. This year they are spectacular!

Posted by: Kay in Marshall
on: 2011-07-28 22:57:02

I planted two plants in my "rock garden" and I find they are most interesting! They really add to the other wild flowers I have in my garden and I enjoy them for the duration of the summer. They seem to thrive despite the fact they are right next to the street.

Posted by: Jim in Rochester Area
on: 2011-08-09 11:44:08

We planted 7-1/2 acres of prairie in the fall of 2008. Today we noticed a single Rattlesnake Master plant for the first time. It was not listed as a species we planted and not shown in the books we have, but found it quickly on your web site. Thanks, Jim

Posted by: Robin in New Hope
on: 2012-07-20 21:25:25

The flowers are just starting to open. There is several of these growing at Northwood Park in New Hope, MN. 7-20-12

Posted by: Brian in St. Peter
on: 2013-03-16 21:08:48

A great plant for cultivation - I now have two, and love looking at the carrot-that-looks-like-a-yucca when I'm outside.

There are some great natural stands of this in these areas: Osmundson Prairie SNA (near Kiester, almost on the Iowa border); Butternut Valley Prairie SNA (south of New Ulm, northwest of Lake Crystal); Joseph A. Tauer Prairie SNA (south of New Ulm); Des Moines Prairie SNA (near Windom). These are all near the westernmost distribution of this species, according to various sources.

There's also a smaller representation of it on Kasota Prairie SNA southeast of St. Peter (I've personally found only a couple of plants). It's listed on the DNR site as being the northernmost outpost of the species, but the more westerly ones that I've listed have lots more plants.