Sanguisorba canadensis

Sanguisorba candensis is a tall and beautiful burnet originating from North America. This robust perennial of wet places erects tall, fusiform spikes throughout the summer, reaching a height of 2 metres (7 feet), covered with white and frothy flowers. It is a giant but graceful wild plant, with finely cut foliage, almost exotic, forming a very green wide bouquet. Very hardy, it grows in any moist to wet soil, in a sunny or semi-shaded exposure. As such, this burnet is ideal for naturalizing a wet ditch or the edges of a pond, for example.

Sanguisorba canadensis, or Canadian burnet, is a rhizomatous perennial belonging to the vast family of Rosaceae. It is native to Canada, where it naturally grows in open spaces, in bogs, near swamps, not far from watercourses or in wet meadows. It is an herbaceous and rhizomatous perennial, weakly trailing, reaching 2 metres (7 feet) in height when in flower, 40cm (16in) for the foliage, and 80cm (32in) in spread. Flowering takes place from June-July to October, in the form of very small green and then white four-petal flowers, grouped in cylindrical 20cm (8in) long spikes, with a feathery appearance, carried by very tall and sturdy stems. The leaves are deciduous, odd-pinnate, alternate, composed of 7 to 17 petiolate leaflets, finely denticulate and dentate. The foliage colour is a bright green, softened by a fine down, and often turns red in autumn, at the first cold spells.

The Canadian burnet only requires constantly moist soil and enough sunlight to thrive. It will naturally find its place in a large massif with waterlogged soil, in the company of giant plants such as the lesser-known Datisca cannabina, Vernonias, Hosta 'Empress Wu', Artemisia lactiflora, Aruncus sinensis 'Zweiweltenkind', or Ligularia dentata 'Desdemona'. Also, place it near a pond, in groups of 3 plants, along with a Gunnera, royal fern, and Thalictrum 'Elin' for an exotic and natural-looking garden.

Etymology of Sanguisorba: comes from the Latin word SANGUIS which means blood and SORBERE to absorb, directly related to the hemostatic properties (which stop bleeding) of the roots used in herbal medicine.