wa) Leute.
Plants 30–80 cm. Root fusiform; rootstock short. Stem erect, purplish striate, branching. Lower petioles 10–19 cm; blade broad-ovate, 10–20 × 8–16 cm, ternate-2–3-pinnate, primary pinnae 4–6 pairs; ultimate segments ovate, 2–3 × 1–2 cm, hispid on veins, margins 3–5-lobed. Upper leaves reduced. Umbels terminal and lateral, 3–7 cm across; bracts 2, linear, scabrid, margins narrow membranous, caducous; rays 8–16, subequal, 2–3 cm; bracteoles 8–10, linear, longer than umbellules in flower, and subequal to pedicels in fruit. Calyx teeth obsolete. Petals white, oblong-ovate. Styles ca. 0.5 × fruit, reflexed. Fruit oblong, 3–4 × 2–2.5 mm; dorsal and intermediate ribs filiform, lateral ribs narrowly winged; vittae 1(–2) in each furrow, 2–4 on commissure. Seed face plane. Fl. Aug–Sep, fr. Sep–Oct.
The roots and rootstock are used as “liao gao ben” (see also Ligusticum sinense, “gao ben”), an important, analgesic and anti-inflammatory herb of traditional Chinese medicine.
Forests, meadows, streamsides, damp places; 1200–2500 m. Hebei, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Shanxi.