Tufted perennial, to 30-(40) cm tall; rhizome 0. Stems erect, with hairs spreading below, appressed above. Basal lvs usually pinnate, rarely 3-foliolate or 3-lobed, hairy; leaflets stalked, ovate or obovate, entire or shallowly to deeply 3-lobed, toothed, very variable in size, 1-5 cm diam. Cauline lvs similar, smaller, often merely 3-lobed; lobes narrower. Fls 3 or more per stem, 8-15 mm diam. Pedicels terete to sulcate, up to 20 cm long, with appressed hairs. Sepals reflexed at flowering, hairy. Petals 5, yellow, narrow-oblong to narrow-obovate; nectary single, c. 0.5 mm from petal base, covered by a small oblong scale. Receptacle hairy. Achenes 40-80-(100), in ovoid heads, small and pale, moderately flattened, glabrous; body 1.5-2 mm long; beak often dark, hooked, 0.7-1 mm.