General:
Perennial herb from a stout branched rhizome or woody stem-base with fibrous roots; stems erect, solitary, simple below the inflorescence, smooth or nearly so, 10-40 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves spoon-shaped to egg-shaped, up to 8 cm long and 3 cm wide, mostly simple, smooth, long-stalked; stem leaves opposite, 2-4 pairs, up to 5 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, pinnately cleft with 1-7 pairs of lateral lobes, the terminal lobe narrowly oblong, short-stalked or unstalked.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a compact, round-topped cluster of either male and female or only female flowers; corollas white, 2-4 mm long, lobed, the lobes about equal to the tubes; calyces with 9-15 feathery segments; stamens well exserted.

Fruits:
Achenes, lanceolate, 3-5 mm long, up to 2 mm wide, smooth.

Notes:
The North American plants, recognized as ssp. sylvatica, are closely related to and not always easily distinguished from the Eurasian ssp. dioica.

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

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Valeriana dioica L.