Annual herb (0.15–) 0.3–1.0 (–1.5) m high; stems erect. Leaves with petiole 5–7 mm long; lamina oblong to lanceolate or linear, (30–) 40–65 (–90) mm long, 10–20 (–30) mm wide, cuneate basally, finely serrate to almost entire, blunt to acute, grey-green, dense and fine semiappressed scabrous indumentum on both surfaces. Capitula c. 5–11; peduncles stout, 10–15 cm long; outer involucral bracts narrowly ovate, 6–8 mm long, shorter than disc florets, densely appressed-scabrous dorsally and marginally fimbriate; inner bracts similar but narrower; paleae linear, 6 mm long in flower, green with purple midrib. Ray florets 9–12; ligule 7–8 mm long, 2-lobed. Disc florets c. 50–60. Achenes cylindrical, 4 mm long, sometimes very weakly 4-angled or with 2 weak white longitudinal veins, black, paler apically, occasionally mottled, minutely rugulose apically, glabrous or with occasional short apical hairs. Pappus represented by a circular white callus, usually glabrous, sometimes with a few very short hairs, no awns.
Recorded mainly from damp soils and heavy clays, often associated with irrigation channels and creeks, on Mitchell grass (Astrebla spp.) plains, occasionally invading crops (e.g. chia-Salvia hispanica).
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