Perennial erect herb, 1-1.2m tall, pilose. Leaves up to 20 cm long, with 3-pinnatisect leaflets, leaflets 7-8 cm long and 6-6.5 cm wide, coarsely or irregularly dentate, hirsute. Flowers pale yellow, up to 1 cm in diameter, sepals not reflexed. Fruit with numerous nnnuts bearing a persistant beak.

emetic; treatment of sexually transmitted infections.  Roots pounded and boiled in water and the decoction drunk as an emetic. But the plant has also been reported as poisonous to sheep.