Vagnera australis Rydberg; V. retusa Rafinesque

Stems arching. Leaves petiolate; blade base tapered; apex of third leaf below inflorescence caudate, 12–25 mm; petiole 2–6 mm.

Flowering mid spring; fruiting early summer--autumn. Deciduous woodlands, persisting along shaded roadsides and urban and suburban wooded tracts; 0--800 m; Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr. (Nfld.), N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que.; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.

Subspecies racemosum is distinguished from subsp. amplexicaule by its erect habit, clasping leaves, and short-acute leaf apex; these differences can be seen in the two color photographs in H. W. Rickett ([1966–1973], vol. 1(1), plate 6; vol. 5(1), plate 8).