Home
Leaves discolorous subsessile or with the midrib petiole-like in the lower c. 10 mm.; lamina mostly 2–6 x 0.5–1.5 cm., elliptic to oblanceolate, rounded or obtuse-mucronate to cuspidate at the apex, cuneate to attenuate below, minutely callose-serrulate on the margins, dark-green gland-pitted and glabrous on the upper surface, or briefly whitish araneose at first, lower surface densely greyish lanate, margins and midrib sometimes fulvous hairy.
Perennial herb, up to 0.9 m high. Leaves oblanceolate to obovate, sessile or very shortly petiolate, margin minutely serrulate, white lanate-tomentose below. Heads terminal, solitary or in pairs, peduncle white or fulvous lanate. Involucral bracts linear-lanceolate and attenuate-acuminate, outer recurved. Heads homogamous, discoid. Pappus hairs barbellate. Flowers purplish.
Phyllaries stiffly subcoriaceous, usually squarrose in the upper half, glabrous, usually finely purple-striped on either side of the midrib, sharply serrulate; outer phyllaries from 3 mm. long, finely subulate; the inner phyllaries to c. 10(14) mm. long, very narrowly triangular, tapering to a fine pungent apex.
Stems several, becoming somewhat woody below, branched, leafy, fulvous-lanate on young growth, whitish-lanate to glabrescent on older stems.
Involucres 12–15(17) x 10–15 mm., phyllaries spreading to c. 20 mm. wide, broadly obconic-campanulate.
Capitula many, solitary and terminal on branches, subtended by 1–5, usually small, leaf-like bracts.
An erect perennial herb or subshrub, up to c. 1 m. tall from a woody taproot.
