Herbs, perennial, 16-50 cm tall; rhizomes robust. Stems erect, often single, slender to robust, densely hirsute-villous, densely strigillose below capitula. Leaves: both surfaces densely strigose, abaxial veins densely strigose-villous, thick, midvein slightly prominent, lateral veins 4-6 pairs; basal and lower cauline leaves similar, present at anthesis; basal leaves long winged petiolate; lower cauline leaves shortly winged petiolate; blade elliptic or oblong-spatulate, 4-18 × 1.4-4 cm, base attenuate, margin coarsely serrate, apex obtuse or rounded; middle and upper cauline leaves sessile, oblong or lanceolate, 2-6 × 0.3-2 cm, base attenuate or rounded-subclasping, margin sparsely serrate or entire, apex acute to rounded. Capitula 2-6(-8) in corymbiform synflorescences, 2-3 cm in diam.; peduncles 1.5-7 cm; bracts linear to linear-lanceolate. Involucres hemispheric, 1-1.2 × 1-1.5 cm; phyllaries 3-seriate, linear to obovate-oblong, apex obtuse or acute to acuminate; outer phyllaries 7-10 mm, margin broadly scarious, sparsely strigose-villous; inner phyllaries 10-11 × 2-3.5 mm, glabrous or strigose-villous on midvein and at tip, margin scarious, erose or not. Ray florets 16-20, purplish, tube 2-3.7 mm, hairy, lamina 12-14 × 2-4 mm; disk florets yellow-green, 5-6 mm, tube 1.2-2.5 mm, sparsely hairy, limb funnelform, lobes ovate, ca. 1 mm. Achenes oblanceolate, ± compressed, 3-3.5 × ca. 1 mm, strigose, 5-ribbed. Pappus yellowish, 3-seriate, stout, outer bristles ca. 1.2 mm; inner bristles ca. 4.2 mm, acute; innermost bristles ca. 5.5 mm, clavate. Fl. Aug-Sep, fr. Sep-Oct.
Home