Stems 4-10 dm, thinly hairy; stipules persistent, broadly ovate, 1-3 cm, laciniate-toothed; lfls lanceolate, 5-8 cm, tapering to both ends, sharply serrate, or some of those on the lower lvs often pinnatifid with narrow, toothed segments; hypanthium 4.5-5.5 mm; pet 10-13 mm; follicles 6-8 mm, glabrous or nearly so; 2n=18. Dry or moist upland woods; w. N.Y. to O., Ill., and Kans., s. to Ga. and Tex. June, July. (Gillenia s.)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
The report in Coulter's Catalogue by Barnes from Tippecanoe County I am regarding as an error. There is, however, in the herbarium of the University of Michigan a specimen collected in Madison County by Charles Piper Smith, July 22, 1904. It is infrequent to very local except in the knob area where it is most frequent. It grows in dry soil and is usually found on the crests and slopes of chestnut oak and post oak ridges. In the southwestern part of Posey County it is found in the post oak flats. The leaves of this plant are mostly trifoliate but often those at the base have pinnatifid leaflets and those below the inflorescence may be only threelobed.