Herbs, perennial, 30-120 cm tall. Rhizomes procumbent; stems erect, brownish, purple-red, or dark purple-red; branches ascending; upper synflorescence branches corymbose; stems and branches white crisped-puberulent, more densely hairy on peduncles, sparsely hairy, or glabrescent in middle-lower part. Leaves irregularly opposite, often with axillary leaf buds, abaxially pale green, adaxially dark green; median stem leaves 3-sect; petiole ca. 1 cm; central lobe large, elliptic or lanceolate-elliptic, 6-8 cm, base cuneate, pinnately lobed, partite, apex caudate-acuminate; basal segment large; lateral lobes smaller, 3-5 mm, elliptic or lanceolate-elliptic, pinnately lobate, semilobed, incised-dentate; upper leaves 3-sect or irregularly 3-partite; lateral lobes unequal in size; central lobe sparsely incised-serrate or sometimes undivided, often lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate; basal leaves withered by anthesis; all leaves with both surfaces sparsely white adpressed puberulent and yellow glandular. Synflorescence terminal or compound corymbs, 8-12 cm in diam. Capitula numerous; involucre campanulate; phyllaries 3-seriate, imbricate, outer phyllaries short, elliptic, ca. 2.5 mm, median and inner phyllaries elliptic or lanceolate-elliptic, ca. 5 mm, all phyllaries purple tinged, apically rounded; corollas white or reddish, ca. 5 mm, with sparse yellow glands. Achenes black-brown, elliptic, ca. 3 mm, 6-angled, sparsely white setuliferous apically. Fl. and fr. Jun-Jul.

● Hill slopes; 1200-1700 m. Chongqing (Nanchuan), Yunnan (Daguan).