Montana Field Guide

Glabrous, dioecious perennial. Stems erect, simple, ribbed, 10–100 cm. Leaf blades narrowly sagittate to ovate, 2–12 cm long, the basal long-petiolate. Inflorescence a narrow panicle 10–30 cm long, of numerous separated clusters of 4 to 8 flowers. Flowers unisexual, reddish; outer tepals 2–3 mm long. Fruit 2–4 mm long, tepals ovate, cordate, with a small callosity; the pedicel jointed in the middle. Achene brown, ca. 2 mm long (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Our plants are subsp. alpestris A. Löve.

Moist meadows, grasslands, steppe, valleys to upper subalpine (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).