Actaea acuminata Wallich subsp. asiatica (H. Hara) Luferov; A. spicata Linnaeus var. asiatica (H. Hara) S. H. Li & Y. H. Huang.

Rhizome black-brown, with numerous slender fibrous roots. Stems 30--80 cm tall, terete, 4--6(--9) mm in diam., unbranched, basally glabrous, apically white pubescent. Leaves 2 or 3, proximal cauline leaves 3 × ternately pinnate, long petiolate; petiole 10--17 cm; leaf blade triangular, to 27 cm wide, abaxially glabrescent, adaxially subglabrous; terminal leaflet ovate to broadly ovate-rhombic, 4--10 × 2--8 cm, 3-fid, margin sharply serrate; lateral leaflets ovate to obliquely ovate. Distal cauline leaves similar to proximal ones, but smaller. Inflorescence racemose, 2.5--4(--6) cm, to 17 cm at fruiting; rachis and pedicels densely white or gray pubescent; bracts linear-lanceolate, ca. 2 mm. Pedicels 5--8 mm. Sepals obovate, 2.5--3 mm. Petals spatulate, 2--2.5 mm. Filaments 3--5 mm; anthers ca. 0.7 mm. Pedicels at fruiting 1--1.5 cm, ca. 1 mm in diam. Fruit solitary, purple-black, ca. 6 mm in diam. Seeds ca. 6, dark brown, ovate, ca. 3 × 2 mm. Fl. May--Jun, fr. Jul--Sep. 2n = 16*.

Forests; 300--3100 m. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Jilin, Liaoning, S Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, E Xizang, Yunnan [Japan, Korea, Russia (Far East)].