Plants 1-4 dm, from a short, branched caudex, villous throughout; basal lvs long-petioled, reniform in outline, the segments deeply and repeatedly incised into narrow, acute divisions; involucral lvs similar but smaller and sessile; sep 5-7, blue or purple to white, elliptic to oblong, 25-35 mm, villous on the back; achenes clavate, 3-4 mm; style plumose, flexuous, 2-4 cm in fr; 2n=16. Dry prairies and barrens; Eurasia, and from Alas. to Wash. and Tex., e. to Wis. and n. Ill. Apr., May. The Amer. plants are probably referable to the var. multifida Pritz., described from Siberia. (A. ludoviciana; A. nuttalliana; Pulsatilla patens)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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Varieties ca. 4 (1 in the flora): North America, Eurasia.