Herbs 40-100 cm tall, perennial. Stems erect, branched in upper half, rarely unbranched, unwinged, with crispate hairs, below capitula also ± cobwebby. Leaves concolorous, green, surface smooth, glabrous or with long crispate hairs along veins. Basal and lower cauline leaves petiolate; leaf blade elliptic to lanceolate and pinnately divided or narrower to sometimes linear and undivided, 5-7 × 1-4 cm; segments (when present) 3 or 4 pairs, margin with 3 or 4 unequal teeth with 1-2 mm lateral spinules and a to 4 mm apical spine. Middle and upper cauline leaves usually undivided, margin with spines to 3 mm. Capitula (1 or) few, irregularly corymbose, not surrounded with pectinately spiny pungent bracts. Involucre ovoid, ca. 2 cm in diam., glabrous or subglabrous. Phyllaries imbricate, in ca. 7 rows, abaxially often with a dark resinous gland; outer phyllaries triangular, 5-8 × 1.2-2 mm, apex acute to acuminate and tipped with a ca. 0.5 mm spinule; middle and inner phyllaries lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 1-1.4 cm × 2-3 mm; inner phyllaries apically expanded into a scarious purplish pink denticulate appendage. Florets bisexual. Corolla purplish red, ca. 2.4 cm, tube ca. 1.2 cm. Achene ca. 4 mm. Pappus bristles dirty white, ca. 1.5 cm. Fl. and fr. Jun-Oct.
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A herb. It is a thistle. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows between 40-100 cm tall. The stems are erect and branched in the upper section. The lower leaves are narrowly oval and divided. They are 5-7 cm long by 1-4 cm wide.
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