Taenidia montana , or Mountain Pimpernel, is a rare herbaceous flowering perennial in the carrot family native to Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland and often found in shale barrens, open woodlands, and dense hardwood forests. It has a narrow range and is very habitat specific (that is, shale barrens) and, while its future appears to be stable, only a few plants are found at various sites; thus, in some of those states, it is listed as threatened or endangered. It is not commonly found in cultivation. The plant produces showy yellow blossoms in the summertime and is said to emit a rather unpleasant, anise-like, odor. Mountain Pimpernel does best in peaty woodland soils that are shallow to deep and stony and/or loamy and in locations with surrounding shade or filtered sunlight in dry to medium water conditions. It will tolerate close to full shade, but prefers part shade and dry soil conditions. Established plants have good tolerance for drought. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No known diseases or insect pests.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Dappled Sunlight (Shade through upper canopy all day) | Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Clay; Loam (Silt); Shallow Rocky
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Occasionally Dry
Mature size
Height: 2 ft. 0 in. - 3 ft. 0 in. | Width: 1 ft. 6 in. - 2 ft. 6 in.
Maintenance
Medium
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (3-15 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect; Multi-stemmed
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Compound (Pinnately , Bipinnately, Palmately)
Leaf shape
Elliptical; Obovate; Ovate
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf size
> 6 inches long, 3-6 inches wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Compound leaves whose dull green leaflets have entire margins. Long-stalked lower leaves (to 12 inches long and to 6 inches wide) are double to triple compound in groups of 3 to 5 leaflets, whereas the upper leaves are single to double compound in groups of 3 leaflets. Upper leaves sheath the stem. Ovate to elliptic leaflets typically grow to 1 inch long and to 1/3 of an inch wide.
Flower color
Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Umbel
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
Produces yellow flowers from June to August unaffected by summer heat. Tiny flowers (to 1/8 of an inch across) bloom in open airy umbels (3 to 7 inches across). Each large umbel consists of about 10-16 small, long-stalked, well-spaced umbellets.
Bloom time
Summer
Fruit type
Schizocarp
Fruit size
< 1 inch long
Fruit detail
Flattened, wingless, longitudinally-ribbed fruits (each to 1/6 of an inch long).
Stem color
Brown/Copper; Green
Stem detail
smooth, glaucous, green to reddish-brown stems
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Unknown
Origin
Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland