Herbs, perennial, 60-100(-150) cm, apparently rhizomatous, glandular pubescent and deciduous puberulent. Lowermost leaves shortly petiolate; leaf blade ovate or broadly ovate, 5-10 × 4-10 cm, 1- or 2-pinnatpartite, segments 2 or 3 pairs, distal lobes longer than lateral lobes. Middle stem leaves: petiole 1-2 cm; leaf blade ovate or ovate-elliptic, (5-)5-8 × (3-)4-7 cm, abaxially densely grayish white tomentose, veins with sparser thick multicellular hairs, adaxially dark green, sericeous-puberulent, sometimes glabrescent, glandular punctuate, pinnatipartite; segments 2 or 3 pairs, elliptic or obovate-elliptic, 15-25 × (5-)10-15 mm, margin 1- or 2-toothed, apex acute and mucronulate. Uppermost leaves and leaflike bracts pinnatipartite, 3-lobed, or entire. Synflorescence a conical panicle; lower branches ± cylindric, ultimate branches secund; bracts linear, shorter than involucre. Capitula ± contiguous, subsessile, erect. Involucre oblong or ovoid, 1.5-2(-2.5) mm in diam.; phyllaries with green midrib, sparsely arachnoid pubescent. Marginal female florets 3-6. Disk florets 5-8, bisexual. Achenes obovoid. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct.

Slopes, grasslands, roadsides; low elevations to 1200 m. Anhui, N Fujian, S Gansu, N Guangdong, N Guangxi, Guizhou, S Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [N Thailand].