Herbs 50-60 cm tall, perennial. Stem solitary, erect, apically branched, narrowly winged, densely pubescent. Basal leaves withered at anthesis. Lower and middle stem leaves shortly petiolate or sessile; petiole winged if present; leaf blade ovate to elliptic, 10-17 × 3-8 cm, undivided or lyrately pinnately lobed, both surfaces green and glabrous, base cuneate-attenuate and decurrent, margin serrulate, apex acute to acuminate; lateral lobes inconspicuous, 1 pair, triangular to elliptic; terminal lobe ovate to elliptic. Upper stem leaves subsessile; leaf blade elliptic to narrowly elliptic, 7-10 × 3-3.5 cm, gradually smaller upward on stem, margin entire. Capitula numerous, in a corymbiform synflorescence, shortly pedunculate. Involucre ovoid-oblong, ca. 5 mm in diam. Phyllaries in ca. 5 rows, abaxially sparsely arachnoid; outer and middle phyllaries ovate to elliptic, 5-6 × 2-3 mm, apex with a 3-4 mm subulate awn; inner phyllaries oblong, 7-10 × 2-3 mm, apex obtuse and mucronate. Corolla purplish red or white, ca. (1-)1.6 cm, tube ca. 9.5 mm, limb ca. 6.5 mm. Achene brown, cylindric, ca. 5 mm, glabrous. Pappus pale brown; outer bristles 2-3 mm, scabrid; inner bristles ca. 9 mm. Fl. and fr. Jul-Sep(-Nov).

● Montane forests; 1400-2300 m. Fujian, Henan, ?Shaanxi, Shanxi, ?Sichuan, Yunnan.