Perennial suffrutescent herbs, rhizomes elongate, stoloniferous. Stems terete, 30-70 cm tall, erect, branching, nearly glabrous or sparsely pubescent upward. Radical leaves elliptic to oblanceolate, withered at anthesis. Cauline leaves elliptic to oblanceolate, thin chartaceous, middle leaves 3-10 cm long, 1-2.5 cm wide, apex acute, narrowed gradually to base, subsessile, coarsely dentate apically, nearly glabrous or scarcely puberulous on both surfaces, minutely ciliolate, mid veins convex and sparsely pubescent on lower surface; leaves on upper branches smaller, lanceolate, entire, 1-2 cm long. Heads few to many in loose corymbs, 1.5-2.5 cm across, peduncle, 3-4.5 cm long. Involucre hemispheric, 4.5-5.5 mm long, 5.5-6 mm wide, bracts green to purplish brown, 3- or 4-seriate, oblanceolate, apex triangular, acute, sparsely pubescent apically, margins submembranaceous, ciliolate, midrib evident, inner bracts gradually longer 3.5-4.5 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, outer bracts 3-4 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide. Ray florets 15-20 in one row, sometimes in 2 series, ligules bluish purple, 6-10 mm long, 1.4-2.3 mm wide, tube 1.5-1.7 mm long. Disc florets yellow, 3.5 mm long, 5-lobed. Pappus inconspicuous, bristles unequal, few, reddish, 0.2-0.4 mm, sometimes lacking. Achenes dark brownish, obovate-oblong, compressed, 1.5-2 mm long, 0.5-1.3 mm wide, sparsely pubescent, with sparse sessile glands on upper part. Fl. May-Oct. Chromosome number, 2n = 54 (Peng & Hsu, 1978; Gu, Cathaya 1: 4. 1989).

TAIPEI: Tanshui, Faurie 226 &1141; Sanhsia, Peng 6229. ILAN: Tali, Shimada 5472B. HSINCHU: Hengshan, Peng 12149. CHIAYI: Peikang, Peng 6004; Lutsao, Peng 10082. TAINAN: Tungshan, Peng 7092. TAITUNG: Mt. Liyushan, Peng 10628.

Distributed widely: southeast Asia, central to southern China, South Korea, Japan, Indo-china and India. Taiwan, from the seacoast to low elevation wet places.