Herbs 15-40 cm tall, perennial. Rootstock thick, densely cottony and covered with petiole remains. Stems erect, unbranched or apically branched, unwinged, thickly grayish white felted to glabrescent or glabrous. Leaves abaxially grayish white and thickly felted, adaxially green and sparsely cobwebby. Basal leaves with a brown winged petiole; leaf blade elliptic to oblanceolate, 8-12 × 2-4 cm, margin toothed or lobed; teeth or lobes ± broadly ovate to semiorbicular, margin with 0.5-1 mm spinules, apex with 2.5-5 mm spine. Lower and middle cauline leaves sessile, gradually smaller, base auriculate and semiamplexicaul, otherwise similar to basal leaves or ± narrowly ovate, smallest uppermost ones ovate. Capitula several. Involucre globose to ovoid, 1.5-2 cm in diam., glabrous or sparsely cobwebby. Phyllaries in ca. 9 rows; outer and middle phyllaries subulate, ovate-elliptic or ovate, 8-12 × 2-3 mm, margin ciliate, apex abruptly constricted into a recurved 4-5 mm spine; inner phyllaries elliptic to broadly linear, ca. 15 × 2-2.5 mm, apex narrowed into a short spine; innermost phyllaries oblanceolate, ca. 18 × 2 mm, abaxially strigose, margin with short cilia, apex with a short spine. Corolla white, ca. 2.3 cm, tube ca. 5 mm. Achene narrowly obovoid, ca. 4 mm, 4-ribbed, ribs apically prolonged into a tooth. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep.
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