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Achenes c. 1.5 mm. long (immature), narrowly obovoid-subcylindric, truncate at the apex, 4–5-angular and narrowly ribbed on the angles, faces between the ribs with scattered enlarged brownish cells; outer pappus reduced to a low rim, inner pappus of caducous brown barbellate setae 1–1.5 mm. long.
Phyllaries several-seriate, thinly scarious, purplish where exposed, araneose to white-or brownish-lanate towards the apex, glabrescent below; the outer phyllaries from c. 2 mm. long, ovate-lanceolate; the inner to c. 7 mm. long, linear, apices subacute mucronate.
An erect perennial suffrutescent herb with annual stems to c. 1.3 m. tall; tuberous-rooted from a small woody rootstock, sometimes with woody stoloniferous rhizomes; rootcrowns pale-brownish tufted-lanate; tubers to c. 10 x 0.7 cm., slender fusiform.
Stems usually solitary, branching above, leafy, puberulous; indumentum a mixture of long-stalked flagelliform hairs and short-stalked unequal-armed, or excentric, T-shaped hairs.
Capitula numerous, aggregated in dense subglobose 4-many-capitulate clusters; capitula-clusters terminal, racemose or corymbiformly cymose, 1–3 cm. in diam.
Corollas purple, 5–7 mm. long, very narrowly funnel-shaped, setulose at lobe apices, sparsely glandular on limb and tube.
Involucres 6–9 x 2.5–4 mm., narrowly obovoid-turbinate the phyllaries remaining ± appressed imbricate.
Florets c. 20 percapitulum.
