Herbs, rarely subshrubs, perennial. Stem with fibers in phloem, without resin canals, without pericyclic cambium. Leaves alternate, sessile, tomentose to villous, eglandular, margin flat, entire. Capitula heterogamous, disciform, in flat-topped terminal corymbs, surrounded by a whorl of prominent, white lanate leaves. Receptacle flat, epaleate. Phyllaries papery, monomorphic, monochromous, brownish, transparent; stereome undivided. Female florets yellow, filiform, outnumbering disk florets. Disk florets functionally male; corolla yellow; corolla lobes erect, veins reaching apex of lobes. Anthers ecalcarate, with short tails; endothecial tissue polarized; apical appendage flat, as wide as thecae. Pollen gnaphalioid. Style bifid; style branches truncate with obtuse sweeping hairs dorsally, not reaching furcation; stigmatic surface separated. Achene in disk and female florets small, oblong, with 5 vascular bundles, sparsely hairy with short, clavate, not myxogenic, twin hairs; epidermis smooth. Pappus dimorphic, of basally connate, barbellate, capillary bristles in 1 row; apical cells clavate in disk florets, acute in female. x = 7.

Handel-Mazzetti recorded several putative natural hybrids in Leontopodium from China, including L. ×albogriseum Handel-Mazzetti (Verh. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 74-75: 28. 1926), described from Yunnan, L. ×gracile (Acta Horti Gothob. 1: 121. 1924), described from W Sichuan, and several others indicated by hybrid formulae (Acta Horti Gothob. 12: 231-237. 1938). It is somewhat difficult to distinguish them according to our present knowledge.

About 58 species: Asia, Europe; 37 species (17 endemic) in China.

(Authors: Chen Yousheng (陈又生); Randall J. Bayer)