Filipendula Mill.

Herbs, perennial, 5–25 dm; rhizomatous. Stems 1–10, erect, simple, leafy, glabrous or hairy. Leaves deciduous by or persistent to flowering, basal and cauline; stipules ovate to elliptic or round, ?herbaceous, base auriculate or not?, margins dentate; petiole present; blade pinnate, 10–40 cm, herbaceous, lateral leaflets 1–17 pairs (with smaller, interspersed leaflets between them in F. ulmaria), sometimes absent (in F. occidentalis), lanceolate or ovate to elliptic, unlobed or palmately lobed, terminal leaflets palmately 3–9-lobed, margins flat, dentate, serrate, or doubly serrate, abaxial surface glabrous or sparsely short-hairy to tomentose, adaxial glabrous or sparsely short-hairy. Inflorescences terminal, usually 100+-flowered, dense to lax, corymbiform panicles ?with nearly erect proximal branches overtopping central axis (anthela)?, glabrous or hairy; bracts absent; bracteoles absent. Pedicels present. Flowers 8–15 mm diam.; hypanthium 1 mm, glabrous; sepals (4–)5–6(–9), reflexed, spatulate to triangular; petals (4–)5–6(–9), white to cream or pink to purple, oblanceolate or obovate to orbiculate; stamens 20–30, shorter to longer than petals; carpels ?stipitate or sessile?, glabrous or ciliate to hirsute, styles ?persistent?. Fruits aggregated achenes, 3–18, ± flattened, lanceolate to oblanceolate, 3–14 mm, margins ciliate or glabrous, faces hairy or glabrous; hypanthium persistent, in some species becoming convex in fruit; sepals persistent, reflexed. x = 7.