Latin filum — thread, pendulus — drooping, referring to the hanging threads that hold the tubers
together in some species.
Deciduous perennial herbs, roots tuberous or rhizomatous. Leaves at base of the plant compound with 3-many leaflets, sometimes with smaller leaflets among them or leaflets lobed, but all toothed. Epicalyx absent. Flower clusters branching and with numerous flowers. Sepals 5 or 6, becoming bent back on the fruits. Petals 5 or 6, white, cream or pink to purplish red. Stamens 20-40, attached to a disk. Carpels 5-10, sometimes flattened, variously hairy, each with 2 seeds. Fruit a cluster of achenes, mostly free (sometimes coiling together).
Grown as border or herb garden plants for the dense clusters of small flowers.
10 species of northern temperate regions, with a centre of distribution in E Asia.
Seed or division.
Source of various medicinal compounds.
Compound leaves; fruit a cluster of achenes.
Barnes (1998).
Source: (2002). Rosaceae. 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.