E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial herb from a horizontal, pale, scaly rhizome; stems slender, erect, 5-30 cm tall, minutely hairy to smooth.

Leaves:
Basal leaves 1 or absent, ascending, thin, palmately compound with 3 leaflets, the leaflets 1-3 (5) cm long, toothed on the upper 1/2 to 2/3, tips pointed, lateral leaflets often lobed, usually smooth; stalks 5-8 cm long.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a solitary, terminal flower; flower stalks smooth or minutely-hairy above; involucral bracts 3, leaf-like, stalked, similar to basal leaves; petals absent; sepals 5 (6-7), petal-like, white, pink, or sometimes blue-tinged, oblong, 3.5-8 (10) mm long, 1.5-3 mm wide, smooth; stamens 10-30 (35).

Fruits:
Achenes, several to many in a spheric head on stalks 1-3 cm long, the achenes elliptic, 3-4 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, not winged, white fine-hairy; beaks awl-shaped, about 0.5 mm long, smooth.