False bugbane is an attractive wildflower suitable for use in the moist, shady garden (Remember that it's poisonous!) It has one to several erect stems rising 50-80 cm high from a system of spreading rhizomes. The stems are mostly glabrous but may have minute hairs within the inflorescence.
The leaves are mostly basal, although several widely spaced leaves may be found on the stems (See photo at right.). Individual basal leaves are long petioled with palmately lobed blades, the v-shaped clefts deeply cutting the blade into 5-11 broad and triangular segments. The upper surface of the blades are dark green and glabrous while the lower surfaces are lighter and often pubescent. The larger blades range from 10-25 cm across. The one to three stem leaves are alternate and become reduce in size upwards along the stem.
The inflorescence is a loose terminal corymb. Individual flowers consist of 4-7 inconspicuous white or greenish sepals, no petals (usually) and numerous white stamens with flattened filaments from 5-9 mm long. Several pistils are also present on each flower.
False bugbane is found in moist woods and especially along streams or in seeps or springs.
False bugbane may be found over much of North America and also in Japan. Variety occidentalis may be found from British Columbia south through the Cascade Mts. (at moderate to higher elevations) to the Sierra Nevada an north coast range of California. Plants are also found near the coast in the Olympic Peninsula and are found eastward in southern British Columbia and northern Washington to the the Rocky Mts. It is found south to the Blue Mts. of southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon and in the Rocky Mts. is found as far south as New Mexico.
In the Columbia River Gorge, false bugbane may be found between the elevations of 2200'-4400' from Larch Mt. east towards Mt. Defiance.
