Herbs 7-22 cm tall. Rhizomes to 20 cm. Sterile branches arising from basal leaf axils, 5-25 cm, brown villous. Stems brown pilose or subglabrous. Basal leaves with petiole 0.8-5 cm, sometimes only 4-6 mm, brown villous; leaf blade ovate or broadly so to subelliptic, 0.4-4.5 × 0.3-2.9 cm, both surfaces and margin ± brown pilose, sometimes densely brown crisped villous adaxially, base usually broadly cuneate, rarely subcordate, margin obscurely 9-17-undulate-crenate or shallowly 5-8-dentate, teeth retuse and 1-verrucose at apex. Cauline leaves 1-3, alternate; petiole 0.5-1.7 cm, brown villous; leaf blade broadly ovate or flabellate to elliptic, 2-10 × 1.6-10 mm, both surfaces and margin ± brown pilose, sometimes glabrous abaxially, base cuneate, margin 5-9-crenate. Cyme 5-9.5 cm, remotely flowered; branches glabrous or pilose; bracteal leaves with petiole 1.5-7 mm, glabrous or pilose, leaf blade obliquely broadly ovate or subflabellate to obovate, 3-11 × 4-12 mm, glabrous on both surfaces, but brown pilose adaxially on most proximal leaf, base broadly cuneate to truncate, margin 5-11-crenate, teeth sometimes with 1 brown hair at apex. Flowers green, 4.2-6.2 mm in diam. Sepals spreading, brown spotted, broadly ovate to broadly reniform-orbicular, 1.5-2.2 × 2.2-3 mm, apex obtuse or shortly acuminate, sometimes retuse and then margin sparsely brown ciliate. Stamens 8, ca. 0.8 mm. Ovary subinferior; styles 0.6-0.7 mm. Disc obsolete, surrounded by brown papillae. Capsule 3.2-3.5 mm, apex subtruncate, retuse; carpels subequal; rostrums ca. 0.8 mm. Seeds dark brown, subovoid, 0.6-1 mm, papillose. Fl. and fr. Apr-Jul.

Forests, wet places and rock clefts in ravines; 1100-3800 m. ?Guangdong, ?Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, N India, N Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim].