Altitudinal gradients is one of the most powerful environmental cline in the middle latitudes as Japan. Many plants exhibit morphological change with altitudinal gradients, however few study is known about intra-specific morphology of flower and leaf-arrangements of herbaceous plants.

There are 9 spices of Thalictrum in central Japan, they exist wide altitudinal ranges 200 to 3000m. We investigated and measured flowers and leaf-arrangements of Thalictrum.

No altitudinal variation is found on flower morphology within a species, however inter-specific gradient on flower morphology (i.e. stamen length and direction )is detected as function of relate elevations. Both intra-specific and inter-specific leaf morphology variation (i.e. number of teeth, dissection degree, leaf area) is found with increasing elevations. There is a specific trend of leaf morphology variation vegetation zone, such as leaf-size decrease and the more complicated shape with increasing elevations at mountain zone and alpine zone, however leaf size increases and appears the more simple shape with increasing elevations at sub-alpine zone.