Herbs, perennial, 50-150(-200) cm tall, all parts glabrous. Lower and middle stem leaves: petiole 2-5 cm or more; leaf blade ovate or ovate-elliptic, 5.5-12.5(-31) × 4.5-8.5(-15) cm, 1 or 2(or 3)-pinnatisect, rarely partite; segments 3 or 4(or 5) pairs, very variable, ovate, ovate-elliptic, obovate, or elliptic; basal and lateral lobes larger than distal lobes, 2-8 × 1-3 cm, margin irregularly serrate, apex rounded to acuminate. Uppermost leaves and leaflike bracts 1- or 2-pinnatipartite or -sect, margin serrate. Synflorescence a ± narrow conical panicle, often with extra panicles from upper nodes to form broad, conical, compound panicle; branches obliquely ascending; ultimate branches to 4 cm; bracts mostly absent. Capitula closely spaced, sessile. Involucre oblong, 1.5-2.5(-3) mm in diam. Marginal female florets 4-10. Disk florets 4-10, bisexual. Achenes obovoid or obovoid-oblong. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct. 2n = 16, 18.

Forest margins, shrublands, canyons, slopes, roadsides, riverbanks, thickets; low elevations to 3000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, S Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Cambodia, N India, Indonesia, Laos, Singapore, N Thailand].