Shrub 0.4-2 m high; stems erect, leafy, white-tomentose.. Leaves alternate, petiolate, ovate or elliptic, 5-20 cm long, 3-4.5 cm wide, base cuneate or rounded, margins closely acutely serrate, apex acute, thinly arachnoid above, densely grey-white floccose-tomentose beneath; petiole 1-3 cm long, the very base widening.. Capitula several in terminal and upper axillary compound corymbiform cymes; stalks of individual capitula 3-30 mm long, tomentose; involucres hemispherical, about 12 mm long, 15-20 mm in diameter at flowering time; phyllaries in several series, the outer and median broadly oblong, coriaceous in lower part, chartaceous in upper part, pubescent towards the base of upper part, rounded, the inner narrowly ovate, 9-10 mm long, subacute, glabrous, fimbriate-pectinate towards the apex.. Florets >100; corolla mauve, becoming whitish in older florets, 9.5-13 mm long, lobes 2.5-3.5 mm long.. Achenes 1.8-2.3 mm long, 4-5-angled, truncate, glabrous; pappus of few bristles 2-3 mm long, caducous.
Home