Herbs usually 5-50 cm tall, annual. Stem ascending to erect, unbranched or moderately branched often already from base, arachnoid hairy, glabrescent, basally densely and higher up distantly leafy. Leaves narrowly spatulate or narrowly lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 2-9 × 0.3-1.5 cm, ± arachnoid hairy, base attenuate and finally semiamplexicaul, margin densely microdentate, apex acute to acuminate. Synflorescence diffuse, paniculiform to corymbiform, with several capitula or more rarely capitulum solitary. Involucre ovoid-cylindric to globose, 1.2-1.4 × 0.8-1 cm at anthesis, 1.5-1.7 × ca. 1.5 cm in fruit (outer phyllaries not counted). Outer phyllaries lanceolate, usually 2-4 cm, herbaceous and similar to upper stem leaves, distinctly longer than inner phyllaries, apex acuminate; inner phyllaries lanceolate, leathery, margin somewhat scarious, apex obtuse to acute. Florets pale yellow, slightly longer than involucre. Achene blackish, cylindric, 6-7 mm, with hollow ± cylindric 1-2 mm carpophore, body in lower half with 10 pale narrow raised often somewhat spinulose ribs, upper half covered and hidden by conic caplike pappus disk and pappus. Pappus gray, 8-10 mm. Fl. and fr. Apr-May. 2n = 12, 24.
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