Main stems stout, creeping and rooting, up to 1 m. long; branchlets ascending, up to 10 cm. long, rather sparsely pilose to glab. Lvs c. 4-7 cm. long, 7-9-foliolate; stipules c. 1 cm. long, deeply 3-fld. Upper lflts elliptic to obovate-oblong, crenate-serrate, c. 1·5-2 cm. long, subsessile, bright green and glab. or nearly so above, paler and pilose on veins below. Terminal lflt on petiolule c. 3-4 mm. long. Scapes stout, up to 10 cm. long, ± pilose; bracts lfy, c. 1 cm. long. Heads c. 3 cm. diam. including spines; bractlets linear, up to 1 cm. long, often deeply toothed. Cupules obconic, tetragonous, almost winged above, pilose, c. 4 mm. long; spines unequal, up to 13 mm. long, pale green to pale yellow when mature. Sepals rather pale green, ovate-lanceolate, up to 1·5 mm. long, pilose below, glab. above. Stamens 2, anthers white. Stigma plumose.