General: Perennial herb from a stout rhizome or branched stem-base with fibrous roots; stems ascending to erect, solitary, simple, smooth except hairy at the nodes, 15-70 cm tall.
Leaves: Basal leaves spoon-shaped or pinnately cleft with 1-2 pairs of lateral segments up to 3 cm long and 1.5 cm wide, enlarged terminal segment up to 8 cm long and 4 cm wide, leaves stalked; stem leaves few, smaller, opposite, entire or slightly toothed, 2-4 pairs, short-stalked.
Flowers: Inflorescence a compact, flat-topped cluster with usually male/female flowers; corollas white or pink, 5-9 mm long, lobed, the lobes 1/2 as long as the tube; calyces with 12-18 feathery segments; stamens well exserted.
Fruits: Achenes, lanceolate to more oblong or linear, 5-6 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, smooth.
Wet to moist woodlands, streamsides, cliffs and meadows in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; infrequent in SW BC south of 51degreeN, rare eastward; E to SW AB and S to NW CA.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
Shade-tolerant/intolerant, submontane to alpine, Western North American forb distributed equally in the Pacific and Cordilleran regions. Occurs on fresh to very moist, nitrogen-rich soils within boreal, cool temperate, and cool mesothermal climates. Sporadic in meadow-like communities and coniferous forests on water-receiving and watercollecting sites. Usually associated with Athyrium filixfemina, Gymnocarpium dryopteris, Lonicera utahensis, Optopanax horridus, and Streptopus roseus. A nitrophytic species characteristic of Moder and Mull humus forms.
