Herbs, perennial, 30-150 cm tall. Rhizome short, with numerous fibrous roots. Stems erect, red or purplish red in lower and median parts, often branched from base or simple, or with corymbose synflorescence branches, only densely white villous or shortly pubescent. Lower stem leaves shed by anthesis; median stem leaves elliptic-lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 3-12 × 0.5-3 cm, simple or 3-sect, thick, both surfaces scabrid, long or shortly white scabrous, densely so adaxially and on veins, abaxially with yellow glands or eglandular, basally 3-veined, base cuneate, apex acute; upper leaves gradually smaller upward, homomorphic with median stem leaves; all stem leaves basally 3-veined, margin deeply or shallowly dentate, sessile or subsessile. Capitula numerous in apical dense corymb; synflorescence 2.5-6 cm in diam., or large compound corymbs ca. 20 cm in diam.; synflorescence and peduncles purple-red or green, densely shortly white pubescent. Involucre campanulate, 5-flowered; phyllaries 3-seriate, imbricate; outer phyllaries short, lanceolate or broadly lanceolate, 1-2 mm; median and inner phyllaries longer, elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, 5-6 mm; all phyllaries green or purple-reddish, acute; corollas white, pink, or purplish red, ca. 4.5 mm, with sparse yellow glands. Achenes black-brown, elliptic, ca. 3 mm, 5-ribbed; pappus white, equal to or rather longer than corollas. Fl. and fr. May-Dec. 2n = 20, 30, 40.

Shaded wet places in valleys, wet places in forests or grasslands; 200-2600 m. Throughout China except Xinjiang [Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Philippines, Russia (Siberia)].