Annual or perennial herb 50–100 (–150) cm high; stems erect, glabrous. Leaves petiolate, mainly simple, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 8–22 cm long, toothed or entire, usually glabrous, sometimes hairy; divided leaves deltate overall, pinnate or bipinnate, with terminal lobes lanceolate to linear lanceolate; lateral lobes/leaflets similar but smaller. Capitula hemispherical, 6 mm diam. excluding rays (25 mm diam. including rays); outer involucral bracts linear, 3–6 mm long, shorter than florets, ciliate marginally, ±glabrous; inner bracts ovate to lanceolate, with yellow margins, glabrous. Ray florets 5 or 6, golden yellow; ligule 10–30 mm long. Achenes ±homomorphic, linear-cuneate, 4–7 mm long, ±compressed, glabrous or sparsely hairy, dark brown to black. Pappus awns 2, U-divergent, 1.5–2 (–4) mm long.
A herb. It grows each year from seeds. It can grow 250 cm tall. The flowers are in white to yellow heads.