Herbs, perennial, 30-75 cm tall, puberulent or glabrescent. Lowermost and middle stem leaves shortly petiolate or ± sessile; leaf blade ovate, ovate-elliptic, or elliptic, 3-4(-10) × 3-6 cm, abaxially densely gray pubescent, adaxially puberulent or glabrescent, 2- or 3-pinnatisect; segments 3-5 pairs, ovate-elliptic or oblong; lobules elliptic-lanceolate, oblanceolate, or linear-oblanceolate, occasionally falcate-lanceolate, 2-15 × 1-4 mm, margin entire or serrate; rachis narrowly winged. Uppermost leaves and leaflike bracts 1- or 2-pinnatisect, very reduced within racemes. Synflorescence a conical panicle, sometimes very lax; branches to 3 cm (to 6 cm in cultivation). Capitula rather few, somewhat clustered toward branch apex, mostly subsessile. Involucre broadly ovoid or nearly hemispheric, 2.5-3.5(-4) mm in diam. Marginal female florets 6-12. Disk florets 10-23, bisexual. Achenes oblong or ovoid-oblong. Fl. and fr. Aug-Nov.

● Grasslands, hills, roadsides, forest margins, forests; low elevations to 4100 m. W Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan.