Perennial herb to 70 cm or so tall. Basal leaves pinnate. Flower clusters dense, narrow, with more or less upright branches. Flowers numerous, with the 10 stamens shorter than the mostly pink or lilac petals; summer.
A. koreana Nakai from Korea and N China is similar but has white flowers with long curly hair in clusters on spreading branches. var. davidii Franch. has purplish pink petals and is one parent of many garden hybrids.
NE Asia.
var. taquetii Vilmorin is a name of uncertain application but said to be a variety used for hybridisation experiments.
Source: (2002). Saxifragaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Dwarf to about 40 cm tall, flowers pink. Raised g. Arends, 1952.
Dwarf to about 25 cm tall with exceptionally large, pinkish red blooms. Raised g. Arends, 1932. [var. pumila, misapplied]
Astilbe chinensis 'Purple Lance'
Is a cultivar of the above variety; it has flowers rose to purple on stems to nearly 1m tall. Origin unlocated. ['Purpurlanze']