Plants 50–70(–100) cm. Root cylindric, brown, ramentaceous, punctate on branches. Stem 0.3–0.6 cm thick, purplish green, thinly ribbed. Petioles 6–10(–18) cm, sheaths oblong; leaf blade broad-ovate, 15–25 × 15–20 cm, 2–3-ternate-pinnate; leaflets ovate to oblong-elliptic, 3.5–6.5 × 2.5–5 cm, base oblique, margin coarse-serrate and ciliate, apex long-caudate-acuminate, sparse pubescent along nerves abaxially. Peduncles 7–15 cm; bracts 2–5, lanceolate, scabrous; rays 13–19(–29), scabrous; bracteoles 6–12, linear-lanceolate, purplish, scabrous, apex acuminate, inflexed. Calyx teeth triangular-ovate. Petals white or yellowish white, ovate. Fruit suborbicular, 5–7 × 4–6.5 mm; dorsal ribs prominent, lateral ribs winged, wings much broader than the body; vittae 2 in each furrow, 4 on commissure. Fl. Jul–Sep, fr. Sep–Oct.

The roots have reputed medicinal properties.

Forests, shrubby thickets, grasslands, meadows; 2500–3400 m. Yunnan.