Potentilla chinensis Seringe, Herbs perennial. Roots robust, terete, slightly woody. Flowering stems erect or ascending, 20–70 cm tall, sparsely pubescent and sericeous-villous. Radical leaves 4–25 cm including petiole; stipules brown, submembranous, abaxially white sericeous-villous; petiole pubescent and sericeous-villous; leaf blade pinnate with 5–15 pairs of leaflets; leaflets opposite or alternate.
Sparse forests, forest margins, thickets, meadows, grasslands, mountain slopes, ravines; 400--3200 m. China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia (Far East).
Five compounds (I - V) were isolated from Potentilla chinensis Ser. On the basis of spectral data and chemical evidence. I - V were identified as 2alpha-hydroxyoleanolic acid (I), 2alpha-hydroxyursolic acid (II), 5, 7, 4'-trihydroxyflavone (IIl), beta-sitosterol (IV), daucostarine (V). All these compounds were isolated from Potentilla chinensis Ser for the first time.