Some similarities to : Agrimony in the way that the flowers hang close from the single stem, and the flowers having 5 petals, albeit not yellow.
Slight resemblance to : Pick-a-Back Plant , another member of the Saxifrage Family. Also, from afar, the look of the plant resembles that of both Wood Avens and Water Avens.
Uniquely identifiable characteristics : Once recognised, this plant can not be mistaken for anything else; but therein lies the difficulty, for it appears in so few wildflower books, and if it does appear, then it is tucked away in some small corner as may take a year to find.
Distinguishing Feature : The five re-curved and extremely jagged petals with several deep cuts. The single sepal is cupped, the petals fringed, hence the name 'Fringe Cups'.
Inhabits damp shady places, such as deciduous woods, where it spreads readily. Never seems to be far from houses, where it is probably an escapee.
Fringe Cups are the only plant in the Tellima genus. Although it exhibits some characteristics of both Water Avens and Agrimony, which both belong to the Rose Family, Fringe Cups is said to belong to the Saxifrage Family.
An ELLAGITANNIN
Tellimagrandin II (aka Eugeniin) is an Ellagitannin which is found both in Fringe Cups (Tellima grandiflora - from which it obviously derives its name), and in Sweet Chestnut. At its heart is a glucose sugar surrounded by five galloyl units, the two on the upper right being joined by a bridging bond. It is present also in the non-native Clove plant (Syzygium aromaticum).
The dimer of Tellimagrandin II is Cornusiin E which is symmetrical and also found in Fringe Cups .
To clarify the dimeric nature of Cornusiin E, the two glucose units are shown in red, and the oxygen bridge between the two identical units of Tellimagrandin II are shown in red. When two molecules of Tellimagrandin II are fused, the resulting molecule, Cornusiin E , loses one molecule of water, H2O.
Cornusiin E parallels the dimer of Potentillin called Agrimoniin which is found in Agrimony, the two are almost identical, apart from two missing bridging bonds between adjacent galloyl groups at the bottom of the diagram.
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