Tufted perennial, up to 1 m tall, stems glandular-haired, often flushed purple. Leaves alternate, oblong, 8-10-pinnatifid, basal ones 100-400 mm long, upper smaller and cordate-auriculate, both surfaces glandular-haired but glabrescent, lobes toothed and spine-tipped, with pale spines 3-7 mm long. Flowerheads in paniculate cymes, discoid, yellow, 30-70 mm diam.; outer and median involucral bracts ovate-lanceolate with spiny margins, convex, median longest, 15-30 mm long. Pappus scales ± 20, oblong, denticulate, 0.5-0.8 mm long.
Glandular-hairy perennial to 1.5 m. Leaves oblong, pinnatifid, lobes cuneate, toothed, spiny, glandular-hairy beneath, upper leaves cordate-auriculate. Flower heads discoid, yellowish, several in terminal corymbs.