Perennial dwarf shrub, 0.6-1.0 m high; prickly, densely leafy. Leaves alternate, reflexed, lanceolate, margins slightly revolute, bristly, pungent. Capitula radiate, several-to many-flowered, solitary, sessile, terminal on main and side branches; involucre campanulate. Ray florets neuter; yellow. Disc florets bisexual, fertile; yellow. Flowering time May, June? Cypselae oblong-ellipsoid, smooth.
Prickly, densely leafy shrublet to 60 cm. Leaves reflexed, lanceolate, margins slightly revolute, bristly, pungent. Flower heads radiate, yellow, solitary at branch tips.