Caudex branched, erect or oblique, short or long, 8--15 mm in diam. Leaves 3--5; petiole 5--15(--25) cm, puberulent, base long sheathing; leaf blade 3-sect, reniform-pentagonal, 3--10 × 5--15(--25) cm, strigose, pubescent, base cordate or cuneate; segments shortly petiolulate or subsessile; central segment 3-parted, broadly rhombic or rhombic-ovate, apex acute; lateral segments unequally 2-parted, obliquely flabellate, ultimate lobules linear-oblong. Scapes 1--3, 20--60(--120) cm; cyme compound, 2- or 3-branched, 10--30 cm, many flowered. Involucral bracts 3 or 4; petiole flat, 1--1.5 cm, winged; bract blade similar to that of leaves, 3-parted, broadly rhombic, 3--9 cm, puberulent, margin serrate. Bracteoles small. Pedicel 2--12 cm, pubescent. Sepals 5--10, white, blue, purplish, or mauve, elliptic or elliptic-obovate, 6--15 × 3--10 mm, abaxially puberulent, basal veins 5--7, vein anastomoses 5--10, apex densely barbate. Stamens 3--5 mm; filament filiform; anther ellipsoid or ovoid, ca. 1 mm. Pistils 30--60, glabrous; ovary narrowly ovoid; style often uncinate, long. Achene body ovoid or fusiform, slightly compressed, 5--8 × 2--5 mm, glabrous; style hooked, conic, 1.5--2 mm. Fl. May--Aug.

Forest margins, grassy slopes, streamsides, lakesides; 800--4900 m. C and S Gansu, W Guangxi, Guizhou, N and W Hebei, NW Henan, SW Hubei, S Nei Mongol, Ningxia, E Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, W Xinjiang, E and S Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Indonesia (Sumatra), Nepal, Sikkim, Sri Lanka].