Artemisia japonica Thunberg var. parviflora (Buchanan-Hamilton ex D. Don) Pampanini; A. japonica subf. tongtchouanensis (H. Léveillé) Pampanini; A. tongtchouanensis H. Léveillé; Oligosporus parviflorus (Buchanan-Hamilton ex D. Don) Poljakov.

Herbs, perennial, or subshrubs, 40-80 cm tall, yellow or brown pubescent, sometimes glabrescent. Lower stem leaves: petiole 2-3 cm; leaf blade ovate or elliptic-ovate, 2-3 × 1.5-2 cm, 2-pinnatipartite or -sect; segments 2 or 3 pairs, elliptic or subspatulate, 15-25 × 5-10 mm, 2- or 3-partite; lobules lanceolate, or deeply serrate. Middle stem leaves ± sessile; leaf blade obovate-spatulate, flabellate, or cuneate, 2-3 × 0.5-1 cm, obliquely 3-5-partite or -sect; lobes linear, linear-lanceolate, or linear-oblanceolate, 5-10 × 1-2 mm, apex acuminate. Uppermost leaves 3-partite or entire; leaflike bracts linear or linear-lanceolate. Synflorescence a ± narrow panicle. Capitula many. Involucre ovoid or subglobose, 1-2 mm in diam. Marginal female florets 2-4. Disk florets 4-10, male. Achenes oblong. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct. 2n = 18, 36.

Grasslands, slopes, forest margins, roadsides, ravines, field margins; 400-4000 m. S Gansu, Guizhou, Henan, W Hubei, S Qinghai, S Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka].