Lactuca alliariifolia H. Léveillé & Vaniot; L. elata Hemsley; L. raddeana var. elata (Hemsley) Kitamura; L. vaniotii H. Léveillé; Prenanthes hieraciifolia H. Léveillé; Pterocypsela elata (Hemsley) C. Shih; P. raddeana (Maximowicz) C. Shih.

Herbs 0.8-2 m tall, biennial or perennial. Roots ramose. Stem solitary, erect, basal half ± densely hispid, apical half glabrous and branched. Lower and middle stem leaves with basal portion cuneate or winged petiole-like, 2-10 cm; apical portion ovate, elliptic, or triangular, 5-16 × 2-8.5 cm, undivided, pinnatipartite, or lyrately pinnatipartite, ± hispid, margin dentate and coarsely sinuate-dentate; lateral lobes 1-3 pairs, elliptic, apex acute; terminal lobe triangular, ovate-triangular, or subrhombic, apex acute. Upper stem leaves with basal portion shorter, winged, and petiole-like to cuneate, apical portion ovate, elliptic, or lanceolate. Synflorescence narrowly paniculate, with numerous capitula on wiry branches. Capitula with 8-11 florets. Involucre cylindric, 8-10 mm at anthesis, 9-11 × 4-5 mm in fruit. Phyllaries often pale purplish red; outer phyllaries triangular-ovate to lanceolate, largest ca. 5 × 1-2 mm, apex obtuse; inner phyllaries 5(or 6), apex obtuse. Florets bright yellow. Achene 3-4 mm; body reddish to dark brown, ellipsoid, compressed, broadly winged, 1.5-2 mm wide, with 3(-5) prominent ribs on either side, apically contracted into a concolorous or apically pale stout 0.2-0.4 mm beak. Pappus 6-7 mm, ± caducous. Fl. and fr. May-Oct. 2n = 18.

Although the range of variation in leaf shape is considerable, plants with undivided leaves (formerly referred to as Lactuca elata) and those with pinnatipartite leaves represent extremes of a ± continuous variation and indicate a certain genetic plasticity in this respect. Probably the various leaf shapes are a response to environmental factors. It is also indicative that comparable variation in leaf shape can also be observed in L. indica and L. formosana.

Forests, forest margins, thickets, moist areas on mountain slopes, mountain valleys, fields, trailsides; 200-3000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan [Japan, Korea, E Russia, Vietnam].