Plants 70–120 cm. Rootstock 2–4 cm thick, surface tawny, yellow within, exudes yellow sap when cut. Stem solitary, sometimes purplish-tinged. Basal leaves petiolate, petioles 15–30 cm; blade triangular or ovate-triangular, 12–30 × 10–25 cm; pinnae 3-lobed or pinnatifid; ultimate segments linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, 1.5–6 × 0.3–1 cm, serrate to sharply serrate. Upper leaves 1–2-pinnate; ultimate segments narrowly lanceolate, 1–2.5 × 0.2–0.5 cm. Umbels 5–15 cm across; peduncles 2.5–20 cm; bracts absent or 1, linear, ca. 8 mm; rays 6–25, 2–6 cm, subequal, slender; bracteoles numerous, linear-lanceolate, 3–5 × 0.5–0.9 mm, almost as long as flowers, rarely longer; umbellules 15–35-flowered; pedicels 4–8 mm. Calyx teeth 0.3–0.5 mm, unequal. Petals ca. 1.2 × 1 mm. Fruit 2–3.5 × 1.8–3 mm. Fl. and fr. Jul–Sep.

Forest margins, marshy areas, bogs, streamsides, often emergent in shallow water; 300–3300 m. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Yunnan [Japan, Kashmir, Korea, Mongolia, Russia; Europe].