Shrubs 2–3 m tall. Branchlets brownish to dark brown, terete, densely yellowish villous, with sparse, curved small prickles. Leaves simple; petiole 3.5–7 cm, densely yellowish villous, with sparse, curved minute prickles; stipules caducous, free, brown, 1–1.7 cm, villous, pinnatifid nearly to midvein, lobes linear; blade broadly ovate, 7–15 × 6–12 cm, palmately 5-veined, lateral veins 2 or 3 pairs, abaxially densely yellow tomentose, with intermixed long hairs along veins, glabrescent, with only sparse long hairs along veins in age, adaxially villous, base cordate, margin undivided, 5-divided, or somewhat undulate, irregularly coarsely sharply doubly serrate, apex abruptly long pointed or shortly acuminate. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, narrow cymose panicles or subracemes, terminal ones 12–26 cm, axillary ones shorter; rachis and pedicels densely yellow villous, with sparse, minute prickles; bracts 0.8–1.5(–2.3) cm, deeply lobed; lobes lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, villous. Pedicel 5–10 mm. Flowers 1–1.5 cm in diam. Calyx abaxially densely yellow villous, intermixed tomentose; sepals often erect in fruit, lanceolate, 1–1.2 cm × 3–6 mm, apex shortly caudate, outer sepals apically shallowly 2- or 3-laciniate. Petals white, suborbicular or obovate, 8–11 × 4–6 mm, base long clawed. Stamens many, slightly shorter than petals; filaments slightly broad at base. Pistils numerous, longer than stamens, glabrous. Aggregate fruit semiglobose, 8–10 mm in diam., glabrous, enclosed in calyx; pyrenes rugulose. Fl. Jun–Jul, fr. Aug–Sep.

Mixed forests on slopes, ravines, mountainous regions; 1700--2500 m. W Yunnan.