Filipendula Mill.
(D.R.G., C.J.W.)
Perennial herbs, not armed, shortly rhizomatous with rhizomes sometimes thickened into tubers; stems herbaceous or slightly woody, usually erect. Lvs mostly basal, some cauline, imparipinnate or palmately lobed, usually with small leaflets between larger ones; stipules large, semicordate, persistent. Infl. a many-flowered, ebracteate, cymose panicle. Fls 5-6-merous, usually ⚥, small, pale cream to reddish or sometimes purplish beneath. Hypanthium flat to slightly concave. Epicalyx 0. Calyx of ± triangular sepals, persistent and sometimes reflexed after flowering. Petals ± imbricate, > sepals. Stamens 20-40. Ovary superior; carpels and styles 5-15, in one whorl; ovules 2 per carpel. Fr. a compact head of free achenes.
Key
10 spp., N. temperate. Naturalised spp. 2.
Filipendula has been occasionally included in Spiraea, although it differs in having a herbaceous habit and in the fr. being a head of achenes rather than follicles. Some spp., including the 2 below, are sometimes grown in gardens for their showy infl. and attractive lvs.
