Herbs, perennial, 50-100 cm tall, branched apically; all parts glabrous. Middle stem leaves: petiole 2-4 cm; leaf blade ovate or broadly ovate, 8-14(-18) × 4-12 cm, pinnatipartite or -cleft; segments 2(or 3) pairs, ovate, ovate-elliptic, or ovate-lanceolate, 2.5-8 × 1-5 cm, margin lacerate and serrate, apex acuminate. Uppermost leaves dichotomously (2 or)3-partite, or entire; entire leaves elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate; distal lobes 4-8 × 2-5 cm, base attenuate, margin serrate; leaflike bracts entire or occasionally 1- or 2-partite or cleft. Synflorescence a moderately broad panicle, branches ± divaricate; ultimate branches slender, lax, sometimes several per node; bracts mostly absent. Capitula widely spaced, sessile. Involucre oblong or ellipsoid, 1.5-2.5 mm in diam. Marginal female florets 3-5. Disk florets 4-9, bisexual. Achenes oblong or obovoid-oblong. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct.

● Forest margins, canyons, slopes, riverbanks; 1000-2300 m. SE Gansu, W Hubei, S Shaanxi, NE Sichuan.