Vines woody. Stems 1--6 m; branches longitudinally 5- or 6-grooved, densely appressed puberulous. Leaves ternate; petiole 1.5--14 cm, puberulous; leaflet blades ovate, broadly ovate, or elliptic, 2--9(--13) × 1.6--7(--9.5) cm, papery, often indistinctly 3-lobed, abaxially puberulous, densely puberulous, or velutinous, adaxially puberulous, base rounded, rounded-truncate, or subcordate, margin distally sparsely 1- or 2(--5)-dentate or rarely entire, apex acuminate to acute; basal veins abaxially ± prominent to nearly flat. Cymes axillary or terminal, (3--)7- to many flowered; peduncle 1.8--9.5 cm; bracts petiolate, elliptic to broadly ovate, 1--4 cm, undivided or 3-lobed. Flowers 1--1.6 (--2.8) cm in diam. Pedicel 5--12(--28) mm, densely puberulous. Sepals 4, white, spreading, obovate-oblong to oblanceolate, 6--8(--15) × 2.2--3.2(--4) mm, abaxially appressed puberulous, adaxially velutinous, margin abaxially velutinous, apex obtuse. Stamens 4--6(--10) mm, glabrous; anthers narrowly oblong, 1.5--1.8 mm, apex obtuse. Ovaries pubescent. Style 4--6 mm, densely villous. Achenes oblong-ovate to fusiform, 3.5--4.5 × 1--2 mm, puberulous; persistent style 0.8--2.5(--2.7) cm, plumose. Fl. May--Sep, fr. Jun--Oct.

Forests, grassy slopes, along streams; 100--2300 m. S Anhui, N Fujian, S Gansu, N Guangdong, N Guangxi, Guizhou, S Henan, Hubei, Hunan, S Jiangsu, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, Sichuan, E Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea].