Sanguisorba officinalisL.

Great Burnetofficial burnet

WFO wfo-0000983287 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Sanguisorba officinalis, photographed by Andreas Stiller
fig. a Andreas Stiller, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-13 / obs. 205794246
Sanguisorba officinalis, photographed by evgeniq_benihanov
fig. b evgeniq_benihanov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205739859
Sanguisorba officinalis, photographed by Wolfgang Jauch
fig. c Wolfgang Jauch, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205545517
Sanguisorba officinalis, photographed by Yurii Basov
fig. d Yurii Basov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205088794
Sanguisorba officinalis, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. e Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205256836
Sanguisorba officinalis, photographed by ahabo
fig. f ahabo, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204924831
Sanguisorba officinalis, photographed by funny_nature
fig. g funny_nature, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205066293
Sanguisorba officinalis, photographed by Yurii Basov
fig. h Yurii Basov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204434473

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 73 botanical countries

Regions where Sanguisorba officinalis is native: Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Irkutsk, Japan, Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan, Manchuria, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Primorye, Qinghai, Sakhalin, Taiwan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Tuva, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Alaska, British Columbia, California, Maine, Michigan, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, Yukon AltayAmurBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastChitaInner MongoliaIranIrkutskJapanKamchatkaKazakhstanKhabarovskKirgizstanKrasnoyarskMagadanManchuriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusPrimoryeQinghaiSakhalinTaiwanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeTuvaWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandIrelandItalyKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUkraineAlaskaBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaMaineMichiganNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaOregonPennsylvaniaWashingtonYukon Korea
Native distribution of Sanguisorba officinalis, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Chita CTA
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Irkutsk IRK
Japan JAP
Kamchatka KAM
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Kirgizstan KGZ
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Magadan MAG
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Primorye PRM
Qinghai CHQ
Sakhalin SAK
Taiwan TAI
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Tuva TVA
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
East European Russia RUE
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Iceland ICE
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Maine MAI
Michigan MIC
Northwest Territories NWT
Nova Scotia NSC
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Washington WAS
Yukon YUK

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 98 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Pimpinella officinalis (L.) Lam.
  • Pimpinella officinalis (L.) Lam.
  • Poterium boreale Salisb.
  • Poterium officinale Benth. & Hook.f. ex Hemsl. & F.B.Forbes
  • Poterium officinale (L.) A.Gray
  • Poterium officinale f. montanum (Jord. ex Boreau) Fiori
  • Poterium officinale f. sabaudum (Mill.) Fiori
  • Sanguisorba altissima Moench
  • Sanguisorba andersonii G.Don
  • Sanguisorba angustifolia Opiz
  • Sanguisorba auriculata Scop.
  • Sanguisorba baicalensis Popl.
  • Sanguisorba bracteosa Besser ex Eichw.
  • Sanguisorba canadensis var. media (L.) Maxim.
  • Sanguisorba carnea Fisch. ex Link
  • Sanguisorba cernua Besser
  • Sanguisorba cordifolia Opiz
  • Sanguisorba cordifolia f. ramosa Opiz
  • Sanguisorba cordifolia f. simplex Opiz
  • Sanguisorba cordifolia var. major Opiz
  • Sanguisorba cordifolia var. minor Opiz
  • Sanguisorba cylindrica Charb.
  • Sanguisorba glandulosa Kom.
  • Sanguisorba globularis Nakai ex T.Kawamoto

and 74 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.