Leaves 4--10; petiole flat, 1--3(--5) cm × 3--5 mm, villous or densely pubescent, rarely puberulent; leaf blade 3-lobed, 3-parted, or 3-cleft, spatulate, rhombic, ovate-rhombic, or obovate, 2--7 × 1--5 cm, villous or densely pubescent, base attenuate, sometimes cuneate, margin distally dentate, apex rounded. Scapes 2--7, 3--15(--20) cm, villous or densely pubescent; cyme 1- or 2(or 3)-flowered. Involucral bract blade 3-lobed, 3-dentate, or entire, narrowly obovate or lanceolate, 1--2.5 cm, hirsute, margin entire or remotely 3-dentate. Bracteoles sometimes present, paired, small. Pedicel 1--5(--8) cm, pubescent or puberulent. Sepals 5 or 6(--15), white, yellow, pinkish, purplish, or blue, elliptic-obovate or narrowly so, 5--12(--15) × 4--8(--10) mm, densely or sparsely pubescent, hirsute, or villous, basal veins 3--5, vein anastomoses 1 or 2(or 3) or absent. Stamens light brown, 1.8--3.4 mm; filament narrowly ovoid, 0.5--0.7 mm wide; anther globose, small. Pistils light brown, cylindric-ovoid, 2--4 mm; ovary villous or pubescent. Achene body ellipsoid-ovoid or fusiform, slightly compressed, 3.2--4.4. × 1.6--2.2 mm, without ribs, villous, hairs ca.1 mm; style usually straight, 2--2.6 mm. Fl. May--Aug.
Streamsides in forests, alpine meadows; 2500--4500 m. SW Gansu, S Qinghai, S Sichuan, S Xizang, NW Yunnan [Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim].
