Vines woody. Branches shallowly 8--10-grooved, densely yellowish pubescent. Leaves pinnate; petiole 4.5--9 cm; leaflet blades broadly ovate, ovate, or elliptic, (2.5--)4--11 × (2.5--)4--10 cm, papery, undivided or 3-lobed, abaxially densely or rarely sparsely pubescent, adaxially sparsely appressed pubescent, base subcordate to rounded, margin denticulate to dentate, apex acute to acuminate; basal veins abaxially ± prominent. Cymes axillary, usually many flowered, paniclelike; peduncle 2--20 cm; bracts foliaceous or simple, ovate to lanceolate. Flowers 1.5--2.5 cm in diam. Pedicel 1--3.5 cm, densely yellowish puberulous. Sepals 4, yellow, erect, lanceolate-oblong to narrowly oblong, 2--3 × 0.5--0.9 cm, abaxially densely appressed puberulous and apically sometimes slightly emarginate, adaxially sparsely pubescent apically from middle, apex acute to rounded and often recurved. Stamens ca. 1 cm; filaments pubescent; anthers narrowly oblong to linear, 2.6--5 mm, glabrous, apex obtuse. Ovaries puberulous. Style 1.3--1.5 cm, densely villous. Achenes rhombic-elliptic, 3--5 × 2--2.5 mm, pubescent; persistent style 3.5--5 cm, plumose. Fl. Aug--Dec, fr. Feb--Mar.

Forest margins, scrub, along streams; 1200--2800 m. SW Sichuan, S Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Kashmir, N Myanmar, Nepal].