Perennials, 100–150 cm; caudices taprooted. Stems 1, fleshy, erect, openly branched in distal 1/2, glabrous; branches on distal stems several, ascending. Leaves: blades oblong, 10–50 × 6–12 cm, margins usually not strongly undulate, coarsely dentate or shallowly to deeply pinnatifid with 10–15 pairs of lobes, teeth or lobes ± closely spaced, not much overlapping, narrowly to broadly triangular, spiny-dentate or larger shallowly 3–5-lobed, main spines 2–12 mm, abaxial faces glabrous, adaxial glabrous; basal present at flowering, petiolate or spiny winged-petiolate; principal cauline many, well distributed, proximally ± winged-petiolate, distally sessile, gradually reduced, less divided, bases auriculate-claping and/or decurrent as spiny wings to 2 cm; distal much reduced. Heads several–many, erect or nodding, usually sessile or short-pedunculate, crowded in subcaptitate or short, spiciform clusters at branch tips, collectively forming open, paniculiform arrays. Peduncles 0–2 cm Involucres green, ovoid to campanulate (not including spreading phyllary apices), 2.5–4 × 2.5–3.5 cm, appearing glabrous. Phyllaries in 5–7 series, unequal, outer longer than inner, bases short-appressed, abaxial faces without glutinous ridge, minutely scabridulous, apices green, thick, spreading to curved-ascending, proximally flattened, linear, spines stout, 5–12 mm; outer entire or pinnately spiny, inner entire, scabridulous-ciliolate; apices of inner flexuous, sometimes slightly expanded and minutely erose. Corollas lavender-pink, 20–26 mm, tubes 5–8.5 mm, throats 5.2–8 mm, lobes linear, 9–10 mm; style tips 3.5–4.2 mm, conspicuously exserted beyond corolla lobes. Cypselae dark brown, 4.5–5 mm, apical collars not differeniated; pappi ca. 20 mm.
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