Herba perennis erecta rhizomate lignoso cr. 1 cm crasso, in collo dense lanosa, cr. 30-40 cm alta. Gaulis in parte superiore ramosus, tenuiter tomentosus, ± glabrescens, purpurascens, foliatus. Folia alterna, basalia ± conferta, ambitu anguste oblongi-obovata, in petiolum tomentosum angustata, cr. 8-10 cm longa, 12-25 mm lata, pinnatifida rhachide lineari cr. 2-3 mm lata, laciniis in cr. 6-10 iugis dispositis lineari-subulatis cum laciniis aequalibus vel minoribus geminatis vel ternatis in spinas 1-3 mm longas excurrentibus basin folii versus decrescentibus et denique ad spinas reductis, margine revoluta, supra tenuiter tomentosa, glabrescentia, subtus tomentosa; folia caulina sensim sessilia et minora, cr. 2-6 cm longa supremis bracteiformibus, ambitu oblonga, inferiora ut basalia pinnatifida, superiora sensim minus divisa et denique dentata, ceterum basalibus similia. Capitula in apicibus ramorum in inflorescentiam subpaniculatam disposita, discoidea, involucri squamis expansis 1.5-3 cm diam. Involucri squamae pauciseriatae, extus tenuiter tomentosae, intus subglabrae vel glabrae, lanceolati-subulatae, cr. 2 mm latae, spinosi-acuminatae, margine in parte basali spinis in 1-2 iugis dispositis saepe geminatis 1-2 mm longis obsitae, mediae cr. 12-15 mm longae, ceterae breviores. Margines alveolarum receptaculi in setas stramineas cr. 1 mm longas productae. Achaenia pilis brevissimis obtecta vel subglabra. Pappi squamae uniseriatae, cr. 20, oblongae, obtusae, minute denticulatae, cr. 0.3 mm longae.
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Woolly perennial, up to 1 m tall, upper part of stem branching and glabrescent and purplish. Leaves alternate, deeply 6-10-pinnatifid, basal ones 80-100 mm long, upper smaller, thinly woolly above and glabrescent, woolly beneath, lobes narrow and spine-tipped, with spines 1-3 mm long, margins revolute. Flowerheads in panicles, clustered on lateral branches, discoid, yellow, 15-30 mm diam.; involucral bracts lanceolate-subulate with spiny margins, median 12-15 mm long. Pappus scales ± 20, oblong, obtuse, denticulate, ± 0.3 mm long.
Like B. rigida but densely woolly.