General: Perennial herb from fibrous roots; stems slender, erect, 0.3-1.0 m tall, solitary, branched above, white-woolly on lower part, with stalked glands on upper part.
Leaves: Mostly basal, large and thin, 10-30 cm long, 3-15 cm wide, long-stalked, broadly triangular to heart-shaped, green and essentially glabrous above, white-woolly below; margins smooth to coarsely toothed; stem leaves similar to basal, few, alternate.
Flowers: Heads discoid, small, several to numerous, in a branched, nearly naked, glandular inflorescence; rays lacking; disk flowers whitish, tubular, only the outer 3-7 fertile; involucres 2-3.5 mm tall, the bracts green, glabrous, equal in size, pointing down when mature and eventually deciduous.
Fruits: Club-shaped achenes, 5-8 mm long, with stalked glands on upper portion; pappus lacking.
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)
A shade-tolerant/intolerant, sub montane to montane, North American forb distributed in the Pacific (most frequently). Cordilleran, and Central regions. Occurs in cool temperate and cool mesothermal climates on moderately dry to fresh, nitrogen-rich soils; its occurrence decreases with increasing latitude and elevation. Sporadic in coniferous forests, scattered in broad-leaved forests on water-shedding sites. Often associated with Polystichum munitum and Tiarella trifoliata. A nitrophytic species characteristic of Moder and Mull humus forms.
