Herbs, perennial, 30-97 cm tall, basally woody, rhizomatous. Stems erect, simple, finely striate (reddish or white), sparsely to densely villosulous, sparsely minutely stipitate glandular below leaves. Leaves cauline, gradually reduced upward, abaxially pale green, moderately scabridulous, strigose, minutely stipitate glandular, adaxially green, densely scabridulous, margin revolute, serrate to serrulate (teeth mucronulate), villosulous-ciliate, midvein prominent abaxially, apex acute, mucronate; lowest leaves (partly observed) withered by anthesis, sometimes marcescent, narrowly winged petiolate, smaller; lower to upper leaves long to shortly winged petiolate; blade ovate to linear-oblanceolate, 2-9.5 × 0.4-3.3 cm, base attenuate to cuneate; synflorescence leaves shortly winged petiolate, lanceolate, 0.9-2.5 × 0.3-0.5 cm. Capitula 7-38 in terminal, open corymbiform synflorescences, 0.8-1.5 cm in diam.; peduncles 9-45 mm, densely strigillose; bracts linear-lanceolate, entire, sometimes grading into phyllaries. Involucres campanulate, 4-6 mm; phyllaries 5- or 6-seriate, unequal, green apically, oblong, abaxially sparsely to moderately strigillose, apically minutely stipitate glandular, margin scarious, erose, purplish, villous-ciliate, midvein more pronounced distally, translucent, apex acute to obtuse, sometimes apiculate, erose, sometimes purplish; outer phyllaries 2-3 × 0.3-0.9 mm; middle phyllaries 4-5 × 1-1.1 mm, base ± hardened; inner phyllaries 6-7 × 0.5-1 mm. Ray florets 15-20, white or purplish, lamina 6-9 × 1.5-12 mm, glabrous, eglandular; disk florets yellow, ca. 6 mm, tube base flared (veins slightly marked), limb campanulate, ca. 3.5 mm, sparsely hairy, eglandular, lobes spreading, tip recurved, narrowly triangular, ca. 1.2 mm, glabrous, minutely stipitate glandular. Achenes narrowly obovoid, slightly compressed, 1.8-2 mm, sparsely strigillose, sparsely minutely stipitate glandular, 2-ribbed. Pappus 3-seriate, orangish; outermost series of scales few, whitish, linear, 0.3-1.2 mm; inner bristles 3-4 mm, acute; innermost bristles 4.5-5 mm, ± clavate. Fl. and fr. Jul-Oct.

● Grasslands or meadows on slopes, thickets; 500-1000 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan.