Leaves 5--15; petiole 5--20 cm × ca. 3 mm, sparsely puberulent or glabrescent; leaf blade 3-sect, broadly ovate, 2.5--5 × 2.5--5 cm, glabrous or abaxially sparsely puberulent, base cordate; central segment petiolulate (petiolule 1--2 mm), 3-lobed, broadly ovate or rhombic, lobes incised lobulate; lateral segments subsessile, unequally 2- or 3-lobed, obliquely flabellate; lobes and lobules contiguous, overlapping, or remote. Scapes 2--10, 10--30 cm, glabrous or sparsely puberulent; cyme 1-flowered. Involucral bract blade undivided or 3-lobed, obovate, 1--3 cm, margin dentate or rarely entire. Pedicel 2--6(--10) cm, puberulent. Sepals (5 or)6--9, white, blue, or rarely purplish, oblong to oblong-obovate, 10--20 × 6--12 mm, sparsely puberulent or sometimes glabrous, basal veins 3--5, vein anastomoses solitary or absent. Staminodes sometimes present. Stamens light brown, 4--5 mm; filament linear, 0.3--0.5 mm wide; anther light, narrow, connective dark, narrow. Pistils brown, 2.8--3.5 mm; ovary cylindric, sparsely puberulent; style straight, light. Achene body ovoid, slightly compressed, 3--4 × 1--1.5 mm, densely pubescent (hairs ca.1 mm), subglabrous, or glabrous; ribs ca. 0.1 mm; style almost straight, 1.3--1.4 mm. Fl. Jun--Aug.

Grassy slopes; 2100--4000 m. Gansu, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, Kashmir, Nepal, Sikkim].