Cynanchum balfourianum (Schlechter) Tsiang & Zhang; C. forrestii var. balfourianum Schlechter; C. forrestii var. stenolobum Tsiang & Zhang; C. limprichtii Schlechter; C. muliense Tsiang; C. steppicola Handel-Mazzetti; Vincetoxicum balfourianum (Schlechter) C. Y. Wu & D. Z. Li; V. forrestii (Schlechter) C. Y. Wu & D. Z. Li; V. forrestii var. stenolobum (Tsiang & Zhang) C. Y. Wu & D. Z. Li; V. limprichtii (Schlechter) C. Y. Wu & D. Z. Li; V. muliense (Tsiang) C. Y. Wu & D. Z. Li; V. steppicola (Handel-Mazzetti) C. Y. Wu & D. Z. Li.

Plants perennial. Rootstocks dense clusters of little-branched roots. Stems erect, often clustered, tips sometimes tending to twine, to 60 cm tall, usually unbranched, pubescent along 1 side, apical parts densely pubescent. Petiole 5-10 mm, puberulent; leaf blade broadly ovate to rarely elliptic-oblong, 2.5-8 × 1.5-4 cm, thin papery, glabrescent, base cuneate or obtuse to subcordate especially near base of plant, apex obtuse or acute; lateral veins 5-7 pairs, puberulent. Inflorescences extra-axillary or subterminal, umbel-like, shorter than leaves; peduncle 0-5 cm. Pedicel 5-8 mm. Sepals lanceolate or narrowly triangular, 1.5-2.5 × 0.5-0.8 mm, sometimes ciliate; basal glands 5, minute. Corolla yellow to brownish or purple; tube 1-2 mm; lobes rotate, ovate-oblong or oblong, to 3-7.5 × 1.5-2 mm, inside pubescent or puberulent except sometimes for lobes, outside glabrous or puberulent, margin sometimes ciliate. Corona deeply lobed; lobes triangular-ovate, fleshy, at least as long as gynostegium, apex blunt, sometimes extended and sharply incurved. Pollinia oblong; stigma head elevated, retuse. Follicles often pendent, lanceolate in outline, 5-9.6 × 0.7-1.2 cm, sometimes paired and diverging at ca. 90º. Seeds oblong, ca. 8 × 3-4 mm; coma 1-2 cm. Fl. Apr-Jul, fr. Jun-Nov.

The roots are diuretic and are used to relieve pain.

* Alpine waste places, grass savanna, humid grasslands; 1000-5000 m. Gansu, Guizhou, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan