Ligularia Cass. (Asteraceae, Senecioneae, Senecioninae ) is a genus consisting of about 140 species most of which are distributed in Asia with 123 species found in China (Liu 1989, Chen et al. 2011). Some plants in the genus are traditionally used in Chinese herbal medicine. During our botanical expeditions in western Hubei, China, in the past few years, we found a distinctive species of Ligularia characterized by dense blackish purple pilose hairs on the stems, and coarselytriangular-dentate leaves. Th e hairs are very similar to those of L. atroviolacea (Franch.) Hand.-Mazz., but careful examination of other morphological characters and comparison between this species and other described species proved it new to botanical science. In the present paper, we describe and illustrate the new species.