Actaea cimicifuga Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 504. 1753; A. frigida (Royle) Prantl; A. mairei (H. Léveillé) J. Compton; Actinospora frigida (Royle) Fischer & C. A. Meyer; Cimicifuga foetida var. mairei (H. Léveillé) W. T. Wang & Z. Wang; C. frigida Royle; C. mairei H. Léveillé.

Leaflets not becoming black when dried, usually 7--10 × 4--7 cm, abaxially white pubescent at veins. Bracts subulate, ca. 1 mm, caducous. Petals undivided or indistinctly 2-lobed.

Forests, forest margins, grassy slopes; 1700--2300 m. Gansu, W Henan, Hubei, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Russia (Siberia), Sikkim].