The natural history of the northwoods . The caudex has dried persistent bracts from the growth of previous years.
Flowers have no petals and are in loose, open panicles.
It flowers with or before the expansion of leaves on deciduous trees. Leaves are maintained throughout summer. The flowers appear in drooping bunches from spring through early summer, often beneath the leaves. It varies in height from 8 to 30 inches, and is grown more for its handsome foliage than for its misty purple flowers that appear in midspring. Moist open woods and on north-facing slopes, ledges, rocky areas, ravines, and near limestone outcrops.