Herbs, perennial, 0.2–0.5 m, not glaucous or stems sometimes glaucous, with taproot from branched crown, usually wide-spreading and clonal from elongated, horizontal, freely-rooting rhizomes or elongated horizontal stem bases, 2–5 mm diam. Stems usually scattered, ascending to erect, solid, sometimes glaucous, proximally usually long bristly-hirsute, hairs simple or few stellate, rarely glabrous, distally stellate-hairy. Leaves mostly cauline (on reproductive stems), basal present mostly when stems young; stipules lanceolate to ovate, (3–)4–5 × 0.8–3 mm; proximal petioles 7–12 cm, 3–4 times blade length, distal usually 1/2–1 times blade length; blade often grayish green, reniform or reniform-orbiculate, 2.5–6 × 2.5–6 cm, base wide-cordate, margins ciliate, apex rounded overall (lobes can be acute), surfaces softly stellate-hairy to silky villous-hirsute; basal shallowly, palmately 5-lobed, lobe not 1-sided, 3–8 cm, elongating in fruit; bracts linear, unlobed or infrequently 2-fid, 2–5 mm, subequal to or longer than pedicels, much shorter than calyx. Pedicels 1–3(–5) mm; involucellar bractlets absent. Flowers bisexual or unisexual and pistillate, plants gynodioecious; calyx 5–9 mm, stellate-puberulent and softly long-hirsute with marginal bristles 1.5 mm; petals magenta-pink, drying dark purple, sometimes pale-veined, 5–15 mm, pistillate darker, 5 mm; staminal column 3–6 mm, hairy; anthers white; stigmas 6–8. Schizocarps 4–5 mm diam.; mericarps 6–8, 2.5 mm, glabrous or sparsely stellate-puberulent, sides slightly reticulate-veined, back rougher, pitted, mucro 0.5 mm. Seeds 1.5–2 mm. 2n = 20.
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