Coefficient of Conservatism:
10
Coefficient of Wetness:
-5
Wetness Index:
OBL
Physiognomy:
Nt P-Forb
J. Arevalo
Muddy or wet ditches, streams, springy banks, borders of swamps and ponds; moist openings, trails, and roadsides in forests. This species is found in western North America from British Columbia southward, primarily in the mountains. There is some question whether all the disjunct eastern populations are indigenous, but many are certainly in natural settings.
This is an uncommon, lax, ± prostrate plant of springy and seepy places, with very clammy pubescence. An unassuming plant, it was popular in cultivation in mid-Victorian England because the plant introduced into cultivation (from a discovery by David Douglas in western North America) had a powerful and pleasant musky scent. Initially reproduced vegetatively, as its popularity increased, it was suspected that nurseries started raising plants in larger quantities from seed, and the strong scent disappeared. The strongly scented plant was probably a particular clone, which was lost from cultivation about 1912. A fascinating essay telling this story was written by Kingdon-Ward (1960).