Habit: single upright stem grows from a small rhizome. Stems are hairy and unbranched, except near the top where flowers appear. The stems are lined with 5 to 10 pairs of green oval-shaped, toothed leaves, 1 ½ – 4 in. (4-10 cm) long. Smaller lower leaves often drop before flowering. It produces several daisy like flowering heads that are pale yellow with 8-14 petals that are toothed at tips. Clasping arnica blooms from early to late summer. The one-seeded fruit is dry, cylindrical and covered with feathery hairs. It has a slow vegetative spread.
Ecology: prefers moist forest, glades, and mountain streambanks at low to middle elevations.
Growing Conditions: full sun to partial shade, in moist to wet soils. It has a low tolerance to drought and restricted water conditions.
Plant in a bog garden, wet wildflower meadow or butterfly garden.
