Subshrubs, 20-35 cm tall, densely yellowish or gray tomentose, foetid. Lower stem leaves: petiole 5-15 mm; leaf blade ovate, 2.5-4 × 1.5-2.5 cm, 2(or 3)-pinnatisect; segments 3-5 pairs, 5-15 × 3-5 mm; lobules lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 3-5 × 0.5-1 mm. Middle stem and upper leaves sessile; leaf blade ovate, 2-3 × 1.5-2.5 cm, abaxially densely gray or yellowish tomentose, adaxially glabrescent, 1- or 2-pinnatisect; segments 3 or 4 pairs; lobules linear or linear-lanceolate. Leaflike bracts 3-5-sect or entire. Synflorescence a dense, narrow panicle. Involucre hemispheric, 3-4(-5) mm in diam.; phyllaries densely pubescent, margin brown. Marginal female florets 8-10. Disk florets 15-18, bisexual. Achenes oblong or obovoid. Fl. and fr. Jul-Nov.

Dry slopes, shrublands; 3800-5300 m. Qinghai, W Sichuan, E Xizang [Bhutan, India, N Pakistan].