Plants 50–100 cm. Taproot stout, bearing branched, fascicled-fibrous roots. Basal leaves petiolate; blade triangular-ovate or oblong-ovate, 10–20 × 8–15 cm, 1–2-pinnate or ternate-1–2-pinnate; primary pinnae 6 pairs; ultimate segments oblong-ovate, ovate or broadly ovate, 2–8 × 2–4 cm, abaxially pubescent, base cuneate, margins serrate or incised, apex acuminate. Umbels 6–12 cm across; peduncles 5–17 cm; bracts 3–4, conspicuous, yellowish, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 15–35 × 4–7 mm, often reflexed, apex cuspidate; rays 7–15, 2–5 cm, unequal, spreading-ascending; bracteoles 2–5, conspicuous, yellowish, ovate or broadly ovate, 7–10 × 3–5 mm, equal to or slightly longer than flowers, enclosing umbellules in flower, then reflexed, apex cuspidate; pedicels 5–10 mm, unequal. Petals glabrous. Fruit 2.5–3 × 1.5–2 mm, glabrous; vittae 3–6 in each furrow, 4–8 on commissure. Fl. and fr. Aug–Oct.

Montane forests, forest margins, grasslands; 500–2900 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [cultivated and adventive in Japan].