General:
Perennial herb from slender, fibrous roots; stems 1 to several, erect, 5-25 cm tall, hairy above or smooth, hollow.
Leaves:
Basal leaves persistent, thick, egg-shaped to nearly circular, rarely kidney-shaped, undivided to shallowly 3- (5-) lobed, 1-4 cm long, 1-3.5 cm wide, shallowly toothed, tips rounded, bases wedge-shaped to rounded, the stalks 2- to 5-times length of blade; stem leaves thin, alternate, unstalked, divided nearly to base into 3 to 5 (7) linear to oblanceolate segments 2-4 cm long, often absent.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a 3- to 7-flowered cyme; flower stalks 1-7 cm long, appressed-hairy; receptacle soft-hairy or smooth; petals 5, distinct, yellow, 4-9 mm long, 2-5 mm wide, oblanceolate to narrowly egg-shaped, nectary on upper surface, the scale about 1 mm long, smooth; sepals 5, spreading to bent back, persistent, 3-5 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, soft-hairy above; stamens 25-50; pistils 40-100.
Fruits:
Achenes, numerous in a cylindric head 7-17 mm long, 5-8 mm wide, the achenes egg-shaped, 1.5-2 mm long, 1.3-1.8 mm wide, white fine-hairy to smooth, margins evident; beaks persistent, awl-shaped, 0.4-2 mm long, straight or hooked.