Herbs, perennial, 80-130 cm tall, puberulent or glabrescent. Lower and middle stem leaves: petiole 2-4(-5) cm; leaf blade ovate, broadly ovate, or oblong, 8-12(-15) × 7-11 cm, abaxially sparsely gray arachnoid tomentose or glabrescent, adaxially glabrescent, 1- or 2-pinnatipartite; segments 2 or 3 pairs, elliptic or oblong, 6-7(-9) × 1-1.5(-2) cm, 3-5-partite or -cleft, rarely entire; lobules elliptic, elliptic-lanceolate, or ovate-lanceolate, usually serrate. Uppermost leaves pinnatipartite; segments 1 or 2, lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, distal one longer, occasionally 1- or 2-serrate; leaflike bracts 3-5-partite or entire. Synflorescence a broad diffusely much-branched, conical panicle; ultimate branches slender and flexuous. Capitula shortly pedunculate, ± secund, most subtending bracts minute. Involucre subglobose or ovoid, 1.5-2.5 mm in diam.; phyllaries sparsely arachnoid puberulent, sometimes glabrescent, with distinct narrow midrib. Marginal female florets 4-7. Disk florets 8-14, bisexual. Achenes narrowly ovoid or narrowly obovoid. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct. 2n = 16.

Forest margins, shrublands, humid areas, slopes, roadsides; 100-1300 m. Anhui, SE Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, S Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Korea, Mongolia, E Russia].