Rhizome thickish, with dense withered leaves, numerous erect branches or sterile stems congested to pulvinate. Sterile stems with dense squamate leaves and fertile axillary buds; cauline leaves obovate, 0.5-1.5 × 0.2-0.4 mm, cinereous tomentose, rounded at apex, sometimes with gland-dotted short cusp. Flowering stems on sterile stems, 5-30 cm, slender, cinereous to yellowish white tomentose, densely leafy; basal leaves obovate or spatulate-oblong, 1.5-4 × 0.3-0.5 mm, base attenuate to a long petiole; middle leaves erect or slightly expanding, spatulate or lanceolate-oblong, uniformly wide or slightly narrow at base, decurrent on stem into a short wing; upper leaves lanceolate or linear, apex acute, with long chaffy cusp; all leaves pallid arachnoid tomentose, 3-veined, midvein convex abaxially, tomentose. Capitula 5-10, densely corymbiform; peduncle 1-2 mm. Involucre broadly campanulate, 7-8 × 5-6 mm; phyllaries ca. 5-seriate, expanding; outer phyllaries upper parts mauve, lower parts brown, ovate or elliptic, 3-5 mm, tomentose; middle ones mauve or white, yellowish white when dry, oblong-lanceolate, ca. 7 × 1.5-2 mm, acute at apex; innermost ones linear-oblanceolate, ca. 5 mm, with a ca. 3/5 of full length claw. Receptacle with fimbrillate appendage. Predominantly female capitula with numerous marginal female florets, center of 1 or 2 male florets; predominantly male capitula with male florets only. Corolla tube ca. 4 mm. Pappus slightly exceeding corolla, incrassate at tip of apex in male florets, serrulate. Achenes oblong, ca. 1 mm, densely glandular. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Sep. 2n = 56*.
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