Thalictrum minusL.

lesser meadow-rue

WFO wfo-0000453930 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Thalictrum minus, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. a Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-11 / obs. 205252334
Thalictrum minus, photographed by Yurii Basov
fig. b Yurii Basov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204676015
Thalictrum minus, photographed by Иван Шихалев
fig. c Иван Шихалев, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203576264
Thalictrum minus, photographed by Нурхайдарова Татьяна
fig. d Нурхайдарова Татьяна, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203425863
Thalictrum minus, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. e Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203327700
Thalictrum minus, photographed by Юрий Данилевский (Yuriy Danilevsky)
fig. f Юрий Данилевский (Yuriy Danilevsky), CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205212430
Thalictrum minus, photographed by Jens-Christian Svenning
fig. g Jens-Christian Svenning, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 198799444
Thalictrum minus, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. h Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197883633

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 84 botanical countries

Regions where Thalictrum minus is native: Algeria, Cape Provinces, Ethiopia, Free State, Lesotho, Morocco, Northern Provinces, Afghanistan, Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Irkutsk, Japan, Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Is., Lebanon-Syria, Magadan, Manchuria, Mongolia, Nansei-shoto, North Caucasus, Primorye, Qinghai, Sakhalin, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Yemen, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Alaska, Aleutian Is. AlgeriaCape ProvincesEthiopiaFree StateLesothoMoroccoNorthern ProvincesAfghanistanAltayAmurBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastChitaInner MongoliaIranIraqIrkutskJapanKamchatkaKazakhstanKhabarovskKirgizstanKrasnoyarskLebanon-SyriaMagadanManchuriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusPrimoryeQinghaiSakhalinTadzhikistanTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanTuvaUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaYemenPakistanWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUkraineAlaska KoreaNansei-shotoSardegna
Native distribution of Thalictrum minus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Altay ALT
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Chita CTA
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Irkutsk IRK
Japan JAP
Kamchatka KAM
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Kirgizstan KGZ
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Kuril Is. KUR
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Magadan MAG
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
Nansei-shoto NNS
North Caucasus NCS
Primorye PRM
Qinghai CHQ
Sakhalin SAK
Tadzhikistan TZK
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Tuva TVA
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
Yemen YEM
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Cape Provinces CPP
Ethiopia ETH
Free State OFS
Lesotho LES
Morocco MOR
Northern Provinces TVL
Pakistan PAK ASIA-TROPICAL
West Himalaya WHM
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Aleutian Is. ALU

Not drawn on the map: Kuril Is., Great Britain, Aleutian Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 134 in flower of 386 examined

Peak flowering in Jul. Each bar is the share of Thalictrum minus observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 134 of 386 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 4 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 109 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Thalictrum abortivum Jord.
  • Thalictrum acuminatum Spreng.
  • Thalictrum adianthifolium Besser ex Eichw.
  • Thalictrum afrum Eckl. & Zeyh.
  • Thalictrum agreste Kar. & Kir.
  • Thalictrum ambiguum Schleich.
  • Thalictrum amplissimum H.Lév. & Vaniot
  • Thalictrum apiculatum Loudon
  • Thalictrum apiifolium Schrad.
  • Thalictrum armenum K.Koch ex Lecoy.
  • Thalictrum arnaudiae Jord.
  • Thalictrum barthii Schur
  • Thalictrum billotii F.Schultz. ex Jord.
  • Thalictrum brevepubens Jord.
  • Thalictrum buschianum Kem.-Nath.
  • Thalictrum caffrum Eckl. & Zeyh.
  • Thalictrum capillare Rchb.
  • Thalictrum ceraiense Matsum.
  • Thalictrum chionophyllum Nakai ex Maekawa
  • Thalictrum collinum var. ledebourianum (C.A.Mey.) Kem.-Nath.
  • Thalictrum comosum Fries ex Lecoy.
  • Thalictrum concinnum Willd.
  • Thalictrum convexum Schrad. ex Lecoy.
  • Thalictrum cruciatum Schrad. ex Lecoy.

and 85 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.