Biennials, 20–70 cm; taprooted (frequently perennating by rosettes produced at bases of old stems and at ends of short lateral rhizomes and roots). Stems 1–5+, erect (sometimes purple-tinged), often much branched proximally, glabrous to sparsely pilose, eglandular. Leaves: basal blades oblanceolate to linear-oblanceolate, (first season leaves) 50–100 × 4–10 mm, faces densely woolly; cauline blades linear-lanceolate to linear, reduced distally, bases tapering to rounded, margins entire, long-piloso-ciliate, often undulate, apices acute, often twisted, faces sparsely pilose. Heads 10–70 in lax corymbiform arrays. Peduncles 1–10 cm (thin), glabrous or glabrate; bracteoles linear-lanceolate (margins ciliate), glabrous or sparsely pilose, sometimes sparsely stipitate-glandular. Involucres campanulate, 8–10 mm. Phyllaries in 4–5 series, linear, 0.6–0.9 mm wide, unequal, apices long-attenuate, rarely acute (some n Florida collections), tips spreading to reflexed, twisted, faces proximally glabrous or sparsely stipitate-glandular. Ray florets 10–28; laminae 5–8(–10) × 1.5–2 mm. Disc florets 30–45; corollas 5–6 mm, lobes ca. 0.5 mm. Cypselae 1.5–2 mm, 6–10-ridged (ridges yellow to dark red-brown, translucent, clavate), weakly ribbed, faces glabrate to sparsely strigose proximally; pappi in 3 series, outer of linear to linear-triangular scales 0.4–1 mm, inner of 20–25 bristles 6–7 mm, inner moderately clavate. 2n = 10.
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