Stout erect herb up to 15 cm. tall; stock stout, main roots fleshy. Radical lvs few, sparsely hairy, coriac., on petioles up to 7 cm. long; sheaths broad, hairy on margins. Lamina subreniform to suborbicular, 2-5 cm. diam., glab. or with few marginal silky hairs, 3-partite to near base; segs 1-1·5 cm., broad-cuneate, 3-5-lobed; lobes crenate to rotund. Cauline lvs 1-2, similar to radical but smaller. Scapes up to 15 cm. long, rather slender, glab., 1-3-fld; bracts up to 2 cm. long. Fls ± 2 cm. diam.; sepals 5, broad-ovate to broad-oblong, sparsely clad in white hairs; petals 5-10, c. 1 cm. long, narrow-obovate, bright yellow; nectary gland near base. Fruiting head subglobose ± 1 cm. diam.; receptacle subglobose. Achenes c. 2 mm. long, turgid; style up to 5 mm. long, slightly curved, slightly 2-winged or keeled at base.

Tufted perennial; rhizome stout. Stem erect, glabrous to sparsely pilose, 5-15 cm tall. Lvs reniform, ternatifid to 3/4 way, fleshy, glaucous, 3-5 cm diam., with silky hairs especially on margins and beneath; lobes ternatifid and bluntly toothed. Fls 1-3 per stem, 2-3 cm diam.; pedicels hairy. Sepals spreading, hairy. Petals 8-16, yellow, narrow-obovate; nectary single or multiple, 2-5 mm from petal base, naked, shallow. Receptacle pilose. Achenes numerous, not flattened, very narrowly winged or not winged, sparsely hairy or glabrous; body 3-4.5 mm long; beak curved, 4-5 mm long.