Flower:

Loose branching clusters of stalked, pinkish purple to lavender flowers at branch tips and arising from upper leaf axils, the clusters commonly rising above the leaves. Flowers are saucer to bell shaped, about ½ inch (9 to 14 mm) long with 5 oval petals fused at the base and 5 slender white stamens with dark purplish tips.

The calyx cupping the flower has 5 narrowly triangular lobes about 2/3 as long as the petals, with small, folded back appendages alternating with the lobes. Flower stalks and the calyx are covered in a mix of long and short spreading hairs.

Leaves and stems:

Leaves are alternate, broadly oblong to nearly round in outline, shallowly to deeply lobed. Lower leaves are 2 to 6 inches (6 to 15 cm) long and wide, typically with 5 to 7 dominant lobes, and shallower lobes or large irregular teeth along the edges, all lobes pointed at the tip. Upper leaves are reduced in size, often with just 3 or 5 shallow lobes. Upper leaf surface is covered with soft scattered hairs. Early leaves commonly have pale splotches on the upper surface, which fade with age. Stems are single from the base, erect to ascending, branched, and covered in a mix of long and short hairs.

Fruit:

Fruit is a round, moderately to densely hairy capsule 3 to 4 mm long, containing 1 to 3 seeds. The calyx persists in fruit, the lobes curving in and surrounding the capsule like a cage.

Notes:

Appendaged Waterleaf is found in rich woods and the shady, moist ravines of the driftless region in Minnesota's southeast counties, where it reaches the northwest fringe of its range. It's not considered rare here but Wisconsin currently lists it as Special Concern. Late May to early June is a good time to search for this in Whitewater State Park in Winona County, and Spring Lake Park Reserve in Dakota County.

It is easy to distinguish from the related and more common Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum) by the leaf shape (less divided and some resembling Maple leaves), larger flowers more loosely arranged, and the small reflexed appendages on the calyx. Also, Virginia Waterleaf is perennial, the leaves persisting throughout the season, where Appendaged Waterleaf is biennial, withering away and dying after fruiting and may completely vanish by the end of July. Another related species is Broad-leaf Waterleaf (H. canadense), not known to be in Minnesota but is elsewhere in the Upper Midwest, has similar leaves but is mostly hairless, where Appendaged Waterleaf is decidedly hairy.