Herbs perennial, 36-100 cm tall; rhizomes long, slender, stoloniferous. Stems erect, simple, sometimes distally branched, ± flexuous, ± striate, hispid-villous, minutely stipitate glandular. Leaves cauline, slightly reduced upward, abaxially pale green, adaxially green, abaxially hispid-strigose, densely so on veins, adaxially hispid-strigose, both surfaces sparsely minutely stipitate glandular in pits, margin coarsely serrate to serrate, hispid, strigose, or villous-ciliate, midvein prominent abaxially, apex acuminate, mucronate; lowest leaves withered by anthesis (not seen); lower to upper leaves broadly winged petiolate; blade ovate to lanceolate, 3.5-5.5(-10) × 1.5-2.5(-4) cm, base cuneate-rounded to rounded; synflorescence leaves broadly winged shortly petiolate, lanceolate, 1.3-2 × 0.6-0.9 cm, base cuneate, margin 3-6-serrate, slightly resinous. Capitula 16 or more in terminal corymbiform synflorescences, ca. 1.5 cm in diam.; peduncles 7-15 mm or longer, densely hispid-strigose, minutely stipitate glandular, resinous; bracts lanceolate, entire. Involucres campanulate, (4-)5-5.2 × ca. 5 mm; phyllaries 4-seriate, unequal, green apically, abaxially distally villosulous and minutely stipitate glandular, margin scarious, erose, moderately to densely villous-ciliate, midvein more pronounced distally, ± translucent, apex acute to rounded, villous-ciliate; outer phyllaries narrowly ovate, 1.5-2 × ca. 0.8 mm; inner phyllaries oblong, 3-6 × 1.8-1.2 mm, base hardened. Ray florets 10-14 or more, purple, tube apex and lamina base strigose, lamina 6-7(-9) × 1-1.5 mm, eglandular; disk florets yellow, (4-)5 mm, tube base flared, tube apex and proximal limb hairy, minutely stipitate glandular, limb campanulate, ca. 3.2 mm, lobes spreading, narrowly triangular, curved, ca. 1.5 mm, apically sparsely hairy, moderately to densely minutely stipitate glandular. Achenes (immature) oblong, slightly compressed, 2-3 mm, sparsely strigillose, sparsely minutely stipitate glandular, 2-ribbed (± translucent). Pappus 4-seriate, ± reddish; outermost bristles few, slender, 0.5-0.6 mm; outer bristles slender, 2-2.3 mm; inner bristles few, ca. 3 mm, acute; innermost bristles ca. 4 mm, weakly clavate. Fl. and fr. Jul-Oct.

● Shaded places in valleys of low mountains or canal banks; 800-1600 m. Anhui, Henan, NW Hubei, S Shaanxi, Sichuan.