Dalibarda ternata Stephan, Zap. Obshch. Isp. Prir. Imp. Moskovsk. Univ. 1: 129. 1806; Comanopsis sibirica (Tratt) Seringe; Waldsteinia sibirica Tratt.

Rhizome prostrate. Radical leaves 7–10 cm including petiole; stipules brown, abaxially subglabrous, margin cilliate; petiole glabrous or apically pilose; leaf blade 3-foliolate; petiolules short, sparsely pilose; leaflet blade abaxially purplish, adaxially green, rhombic-ovate to obovate, 1–4 × 1–3.5 cm, both surfaces sparsely pilose or glabrescent, base cuneate or broadly so, margin crenate, distally 3–5-lobed, apex obtuse to acute; cauline leaf solitary or reduced. Flowering stems 7–20 cm tall, glabrous; cyme 1–3-flowered; bracts ovate-lanceolate, membranous, margin entire. Flowers 1–2.5 cm in diam.; pedicel glabrous, rarely slightly pubescent. Sepals triangular-ovate, glabrous or abaxially sparsely pilose, apex acuminate or 2- or 3-serrate; epicalyx segments lanceolate, much shorter than sepals. Petals yellow, elliptic to rhombic-elliptic, nearly 2 × as long as sepals. Achenes black-brown, cylindric to obliquely obovoid, 2–3 mm, white villous. Fl. and fr. May–Jun.

The eastern Asian and European populations are widely disjunct, separated by over 5000 km.

Waldsteinia ternata var. glabriuscula T. T. Yü & C. L. Li was described in FRPS (p. 233) based on a difference in the indumentum of the stems and leaves; however stem and leaf hairiness in this species is variable, and it is difficult to distinguish taxa on this basis. The name is anyway invalid because no Latin description or diagnosis was provided (St. Louis Code, Art. 36.1).

Damp forests; 700--1000 m. S Jilin (Changbai Shan) [Japan, E Russia (Sakhalin, E Siberia); C and E Europe].