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

General:
Perennial herb from a stout taproot and branched stem-base with fibrous roots; stems erect, solitary, simple, usually smooth, 10-120 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves linear to egg-shaped, long-stalked, 7-40 cm long, 0.7-5 cm wide, simple or sometimes lobed; stem leaves opposite, 2-6 pairs, pinnately cleft with narrow segments, becoming unstalked, terminal lobe linear to narrowly lanceolate.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a compact panicle of either male, female or both female and male flowers; female flowers 1 mm long and male or male/female flowers 2.5-3.5 mm long; corollas white, either about 1 mm long (female) or 2.5-3.5 mm long (male), lobed, the lobes slightly shorter than the tubes; calyces with mostly 9-13 feathery segments; stamens only slightly exserted.

Fruits:
Achenes, egg-shaped, 2.5-4.5 mm long, short-hairy or nearly smooth.