Shrublets 20--60 cm tall. Branches subterete, not grooved, glabrous; bud scales ovate to ovate-oblong, 4--8 mm, puberulous near apex. Leaves simple, glabrous; petiole 2--5 cm; leaf blade pentagonal, 3--7.5 × 3.5--8 cm, palmately 5-lobed, thick papery, base subcordate to rarely broadly cuneate, margin sparsely dentate, apex acute; basal veins abaxially nearly flat to ± prominent. Flowers 2--4 borne together with leaves from a bud at apex of stem, 3.5--5 cm in diam. Pedicel 5.5--10 cm, glabrous. Sepals 5--8, white or pinkish, spreading, narrowly obovate to oblong, 1.5--2.5 × 0.7--1.5 cm, both surfaces glabrous, apex obtuse, subrounded, or acute. Stamens 5--8 mm, glabrous; anthers narrowly oblong to oblong, 1--2 mm, apex obtuse. Ovaries pubescent. Style ca. 4.5 mm, densely villous. Achenes narrowly ovate, 2.5--3 × 1.2--1.8 mm, densely pubescent; persistent style ca. 2.5 cm, plumose. Fl. Apr--May, fr. May--Jun.