Stems erect from short caudices, not rooting nodally, glabrous, not bulbous-based. Tuberous roots absent. Basal leaf blades circular to reniform in outline, 3-5-parted, 0.8-3.8 × 1.7-6.9 cm, segments again lobed, ultimate segments elliptic or oblong, margins crenate, apex rounded; cauline leaf 0-1, scalelike. Flowers: receptacle glabrous; sepals spreading, yellow, 7-11 × 4-7 mm, glabrous; petals 11-15, yellow, 8-12 × 3-5 mm. Heads of achenes hemispheric or spheric, 7-8 × 9-10 mm; achenes 2.4-4.6 × 1.2-2.2 mm, glabrous; beak persistent, filiform, hooked distally, 1-1.8 mm. 2 n = 16.

Flowering late spring-summer (Jun-Aug). Slopes near persistent snowbanks; 500-1800 m; B.C.; Alaska, Wash.