The rhizome is yellow, often branched, densely covered with numerous fibrous roots. Leaves have long petioles; the leaf blade is somewhat leathery, ovate-triangular, up to 10 cm wide, completely trifoliate. The central leaflet is ovate-rhombic, 3-8 cm long and 2-4 cm wide, with an acute apex and a slender petiole 0.8-1.8 cm long. It is deeply pinnately lobed with 3 or 5 pairs, deepest at the base, with lobes spaced 2-6 mm apart. The margins bear sharp serrations with fine spine-like tips. The lateral leaflets have petioles 1.5-5 mm long, are obliquely ovate, shorter than the central leaflet, and unequally bilobed. The veins on both surfaces are raised, and aside from short pubescence along the veins on the upper surface, the rest is glabrous. The petiole is 5-12 cm long and glabrous.