Herbs perennial. Stems erect, 50-80 cm tall, branched, striate, glabrous. Petiole 2-3 mm, pilose; leaf blade greenish abaxially, green adaxially, elliptic-lanceolate, 10-15 × 2-3 cm, both surfaces pilose, base broadly cuneate, margin shortly ciliate, apex acuminate; ocrea tubular, 2-3 cm, membranous, pilose along veins, oblique, dehiscent. Inflorescence terminal, paniculate, spreading, 10-15 cm; rachis and branches pilose; bracts ovate, 2-2.5 mm, pilose, each 2- or 3-flowered. Pedicels shorter than bracts, articulate. Perianth white, 5-parted; tepals obovate, unequal, 3-3.5 mm. Stamens 8, included; anthers yellow. Styles 3, ca. 0.5 mm; stigmas capitate. Achenes equaling persistent perianth, slightly shiny, ovoid, trigonous, ca. 3.5 mm. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep.

The combination Aconogonon cathayanum (A. J. Li) Boufford & H. Sun (Harvard Pap. Bot. 14: 197. 2009) was published after the Flora of China treatment.

* Grassy slopes, thickets in valleys, meadows; 3000-4600 m. S Qinghai, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan.