Cyanea asplenifolia, a member of the Campanulaceae (bellflower) family, is a short-lived unbranched or sparingly branched perennial shrub 4.3 to 6.6 ft (1.3 to 2 m) tall. Leaves are pinnately divided, upper surface glabrose, lower surface sparsely pubescent, segments 10 to 15 per side, lanceolate to elliptic 0.5 to 1 in (10 to 25 mm) wide, margins of the segments irregular lobed, the lobes obtuse, petioles 4.5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in) long. Inflorescences 8 to 15 flowered, peduncles 0.7 to 2 in (2 to 5 cm) long. Flowers are 1.2 to 1.5 in (3 to 3.8 cm) long, sparsely pubescent, with small calyx lobes, the tube suberect to gently curved. Flowers are often covered with spikes, sometimes arranged in rows, on the tips and faces of corolla lobes. Fruit is globose to ovoid, 0.2 to 0.5 in (0.5 to 1.4 cm) long, 0.2 to 3 in (0.5 to 0.8 cm) in diameter, pale to bright orange. Fruit is usually crowned by persistent calyx lobes with 50 to 175 seeds; seeds about 0.02 by 0.01 in (0.5 mm by 0.25 mm), yellowish brown, flat, and smooth.