Japanese name: クロバナロウゲ（黒花狼牙） Scientific name:Comarum palustre
[Overview]
A perennial 30–60 cm tall that grows in colonies in mountain marshes and wetlands.
The stem is rather thick; the lower part creeps along the ground and branches, and the upper part is erect.
The stem is covered with silky hairs.
The leaves are alternate, odd-pinnately compound with 5–7 leaflets.
The leaflets are oblong, 4–7 cm long; the underside is powdery white and covered with silky hairs, and the margins have a few serrations.
Stipules are present.
A cyme at the stem tip bears several flowers.
The flowers are dark reddish brown, 5-petaled, and 15–20 mm across; the petals are ovate with sharply pointed tips.
The sepals are longer than the petals, hairy, and narrowly ovate with pointed tips.
The epicalyx segments are small and green.
The receptacle is hairy and swells slightly after flowering.
The fruit is an achene.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by division or from seed.
It prefers a sunny site with good water retention and drainage.
Cultivation is easy, but care is needed in summer to keep it from drying out.
