Perennial, 80–150 cm. Root stout, yellowish brown, conic, up to 20 × 3 cm. Stem purplish, thinly ribbed, pubescent. Basal and lower petioles 5–13 cm, sheaths narrow-oblong, amplexicaule, dense-pubescent; blade triangular-ovate, 15–30 × 8–25 cm, 2–3-ternate-pinnate, pinnae 2–4 pairs, glabrous; leaflets subsessile, elliptic to lanceolate, 2–4 × 0.3–1.5 cm, sometimes 3-lobed, base slightly decurrent, margin white-cartilaginous and mucronate-serrate. Peduncles, rays and pedicels all dense hispidulous; peduncles 5–20 cm; bracts absent or 1, deciduous; rays 20–45, subequal; bracteoles 3–7, subulate, pubescent; umbellules 20–40-flowered. Calyx teeth obsolete. Petals white, obovate. Fruit ellipsoid, 4–6 × 3–4 mm; dorsal ribs filiform, lateral ribs broad-winged; vittae 1 in each furrow, 2 on commissure. Fl. Jul–Aug, fr. Aug–Sep. n = 22.
Damp habitats in C. and N. Japan. Forests, forest margins, grasslands, streamsides; at elevations from 500-1,000 metres. Banks of rivers and streams, damp forest plots, willow woods.