Japan Flora: Stems 20-150 cm. long, glabrous, branched; me­dian leaves simple, oblong-lanceolate, or more commonly 3(-5)-parted, the terminal segments larger, oblong-lanceolate, toothed, gradually narrowed at both ends, the lateral seg­ments spreading, the petioles more or less winged, 5-13 cm. long; heads eligulate, the involucral bracts oblanceolate, 1.5- 4.5 cm. long in fruit, the outer chaff oblong, 9-11 mm. long; tubular corollas 4-toothed; achenes 7-11 mm. long, retrorsely spinulose on margin and ribs, the well-developed awns 2, 3-4 mm. long, with 1 or 2 additional imperfect ones at the tip.   Aug.-Oct.

Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu. Formosa, Ryukyus, China, Korea, Eurasia to N. Africa, and Australia. 

var. repens (D. Don) Shcrff. Stems 1-40 cm. long; leaves or the segments unequally and coarsely toothed; achenes 65-7.5 mm. long, glabrous; awns 2, 2-3 mm, long, retrorsely spinulose or smooth； Reported in Honshu (Oomi Prov.). Korea, China, India, and Malaysia.