General:
Perennial herb from branched stem-bases with rhizomes; flowering stems 10-30 cm tall, mostly smooth below, long-hairy above.

Leaves:
All basal, kidney-shaped, 1.0-7.7 cm wide, 1/2 to 4/5 as long, coarsely 7- to 21-toothed, the teeth up to 1 cm long, the leaves smooth, sparsely or stiff-hairy near the base, sometimes fringed, the stalks long, 1- to 5-times blade length.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a many-flowered, terminal, congested or open panicle with appressed or ascending hairs, the lowest branch often from leaf-like bracts; petals white to pink, 2.5-4 mm long, oblong, the tips rounded to notched, slightly clawed, deciduous; calyces lobed nearly to base, slightly joined to the base of the ovary, free hypanthium absent, the lobes egg-shaped to narrowly egg-shaped, 1-2 mm long, green to purplish, fringed, bent back; stamens 10.

Fruits:
Capsules; 3-12 mm long, purplish, tips spreading to bent; seeds brown, about 0.8 mm long, ridged lengthwise with pimples.

Notes:
Four intergrading subspecies occur in BC.

1. Largest leaves mostly with 9 to12 teeth; capsules 6-12 mm long; plants of the Queen Charlotte Islands, adjacent mainland and Coast Mountains of NW BC.................... ssp. carlottae (Calder & Savile) Hult.

1. Largest leaves mostly with 12 to 18 teeth; capsules 3-8 mm long; plants of mainland BC.

2. Panicles open, the hairs appressed; plants slender; plants of SW BC..................... ssp. cascadensis (Calder & Savile) Hult.

2. Panicles often congested, the hairs ascending; plants robust; plants of N BC and the Rocky Mountains.

3. Largest leaves 2.3-7.7 cm wide, slightly fringed and stiff-hairy near the leaf stalks; capsule cleft 25-60%; plants of NW BC ...........................ssp. pacifica (Hult.) Hult.

3. Largest leaves 1.0-3.8 cm wide, smooth or sparsely hairy; capsule cleft 40-75%; plants of N BC north of 56degreeN........................... ssp. porsildiana (Calder & Savile) Hult.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia