Plants 30–100 cm, monocarpic. Caudex simple. Stem solitary, much-branched above, solid, terete, finely grooved, glabrous. Basal leaves many, petiolate; blade oblong or ovate-oblong, 5–14 × 2–4 cm, 3-pinnately dissected, leaf rachis shallowly grooved, squarrose; ultimate segments linear, 3–10 × 0.5–1.5 mm, abaxially slightly glaucous and sparsely squarrose, apex acute. Synflorescence much-branched, corymbose; umbels 1.5–5 cm across; bracts absent or 1–2, small; rays (4–)6–10, 1.5–3.5 cm, unequal, ridged, squarrose; bracteoles 5–6, lanceolate, shorter than or equaling flowers; umbellules 10–15-flowered; pedicels 0.5–2 mm. Petals yellow, subsquare or elliptic, costa deep yellow, sometimes abaxially puberulous. Fruit ellipsoid, slightly dorsally compressed, ca. 3.5 × 2 mm, puberulous when young; vittae 3–4 in each furrow, 6–10 on commissure. Fl. and fr. Jul–Sep.

The roots are used in Sichuan as a regional substitute, known as “chuan fang feng,” for the traditional Chinese medicine “fang feng” (Saposhnikovia divaricata). This taxon is possibly conspecific with Seseli incisodentatum.

Two of us (Pimenov & Kljuykov, FOC 14: 129. 2005) treat this as Seseli incisodentatum.

Sunny mountain slopes, dry valleys, grasslands; 1400–3600 m. E Qinghai (Datong, Menyuan, Tongren), W Sichuan.