Perennials, slender, 15–60 cm; taprooted with deep-seated root sprouts. Stems 1–few, erect, closely gray-tomentose; branches 0–few, ascending. Leaves: blades lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 10–25 × 1–4 cm, unlobed and merely spinulose or pinnately lobed about halfway to midveins, often terminal lobes long-tapered, lobes short, lanceolate to triangular, entire to few toothed or lobed, well separated by wide, U-shaped sinuses, main spines slender, 2–5 mm, abaxial faces gray-tomentose, adaxial green, glabrous to thinly tomentose; basal usually present at flowering, winged-petiolate; principal cauline winged-petiolate proximally, mid and distal sessile, progressively reduced distally, bases not or scarcely decurrent, sometimes distal weakly clasping; distalmost often reduced to lanceolate or linear, long-acuminate bracts. Heads 1–6, borne singly or few at branch tips in corymbiform arrays. Peduncles 0–10 cm. Involucres hemispheric to subcylindric, 1.5–2.2 × 1.5–2.5 cm, thinly floccose-tomentose or glabrate. Phyllaries in 6–9 series, imbricate, pale green with darker apices, brownish when dry, lanceolate (outer) to linear-lanceolate (inner), margins of outer entire, abaxial faces with narrow glutinous ridge; outer and middle appressed proximally, apices spreading to ascending, bodies entire or rarely spinulose, spines slender, 3–7 mm; apices of inner often dark purple or blackish, flexuous, scarious, entire to pectinate-fringed, tapered or expanded. Corollas white or pink to pale purple, 20–28 mm, tubes 9–14 mm, throats 5–7.5 mm, lobes 5–10 mm; style tips 2.5–6 mm. Cypselae stramineous with brownish streaks, 6.5–7 mm, apical collars colored like body, narrow; pappi 15–20 mm. 2n = 28.
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