Aegopodium alpestre Ledeb.

Plants from E Kazakhstan, C Asia to Pakistan, and NW India are sometimes included within Aegopodium alpestre, but we agree with those authors who recognize these western plants as a separate species, A. kashmiricum (R. R. Stewart ex Dunn) Pimenov.

Plants (20–)30–100 cm. Roots fibrous from an elongate, slender rootstock. Stem hollow. Basal petioles 5–13 cm; blade broad-triangular in outline, 3–9 × 3.5–12 cm, ternate-2-pinnate; ultimate segments long-ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 1.5–3.5 × 0.7–2 cm, sessile, base cuneate, irregularly sharp-serrate, apex acute to acuminate. Umbels 3–8 cm across; peduncles 7–15 cm; rays 9–17, 2–4.5 cm; umbellules 10–15 mm across, many-flowered; pedicels 3–10 mm, unequal. Petals white. Styles 2–3 × stylopodium. Fruit oblong or oblong-ovoid, 3–3.5 × 1.8–2.5 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun–Aug.

Erect, 30-50 cm tall, glabrous. Leaves 2-3-pinnate; leaflets oval, 1-4 cm long, margins serrate to deeply incised; leaf bases sheathing. Peduncles 4-15 cm long. Rays 6-12, glabrous. Umbellets with numerous flowers, some imperfect. Flowers pedicels 3-8 mm long. Petals white. Fruit oblong, 3-4 mm long, glabr¬ous; ridges thin; vittae minute, obscure.

Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Xinjiang [Japan, Korea, Mongolia, SE Russia].

Distribution: China, Japan, USSR, Himalayas in India and W. Pakistan.

Mixed forests or grassy places on mountain slopes; 900–2200 m.