Herbs, perennial, 15-40 cm tall, sometimes caespitose; rhizome robust. Stems erect or ascending, simple, slender, finely striate, leafy, sparsely to moderately villous, minutely stipitate glandular. Leaves basal and cauline; cauline leaves gradually reduced distally, abaxially sparsely pilosulose, veins villous, sparsely minutely stipitate glandular, adaxially sparsely pilosulose, veins sparsely villous, margin serrate, ciliate, 3-5-veined, veins abaxially prominent; basal leaves sometimes withered at anthesis, long petiolate (petiole to 8 cm); blade ovate to obovate, 1.5-6 × 0.7-2 cm, apex rounded to obtuse or acute, mucronate; cauline leaves shortly and broadly winged petiolate or sessile, ovate, 1.5-8 × 0.6-3.5 cm, base attenuate, clasping, apex acute. Capitula solitary, terminal, 7-9 cm in diam. Involucre hemispheric, 2-2.3 cm in diam.; phyllaries 3-seriate, subequal, squarrose to reflexed, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 9-10 mm, leaflike, margin villous-ciliate, apex acuminate, tip purplish, proximally white villous, moderately to densely minutely stipitate glandular; outer phyllaries 2-3 mm wide; inner phyllaries ca. 1.5 mm wide. Ray florets 44-51(-100), purplish, tube ca. 1 mm, lamina 20-30 × 1.5-2 mm, glabrous, eglandular; disk florets purplish brown, ca. 5 mm, limb funnelform, ca. 3.5 mm, glabrous, lobes spreading, narrowly triangular, ca. 1 mm. Achenes obovoid, compressed, 3-4 mm, sparsely strigillose, densely so distally, eglandular, not winged, 4-ribbed. Pappus 2-seriate, brown, few; outer series of narrow to broad, erose scales 1-1.5 mm; inner series of stout, flat bristles barbellate throughout, 3-4 mm, long acute. Fl. and fr. Aug-Sep.

● Alpine or subalpine meadows, streamsides; 2800-4300 m. NW Yunnan.