Herbs, perennial, 10-20 cm tall, caespitose; rhizome woody, rather thick. Stems numerous, rarely 1 or 2, 1-1.5 mm in diam., erect or ascending, purplish, rarely green, simple, sparsely long villous, strigillose. Leaves: basal withered at anthesis, long winged petiolate, petiole villous and villous-ciliate, blade spatulate to oblanceolate, 2-6 × 0.5-1.2 cm, 3-veined, conspicuously reticulate, base attenuate, margin entire, villous-ciliate, apex obtuse to acute; cauline 3-6, often crowded at base, lower and mid sessile, blade lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 1.3-3.5 × 0.4-0.7 cm, subclasping, apex acute, upper gradually reduced, blade lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, abaxial surface with veins sparsely villous, adaxial villous, strigillose. Capitula solitary, ca. 2 cm in diam. Involucre hemispheric, ca. 8 × 15-20 mm; phyllaries 3-seriate, ± equaling disk florets, purplish or green, appressed, subequal, 1-1.5 mm wide, outer linear-oblanceolate, abaxially villous, strigillose, eglandular, reticulate, apex ± acute, inner linear-lanceolate, villous or glabrate, 1-3-veined, margin narrowly scarious, apex acuminate. Ray florets 3-seriate, purplish, 7-8 mm, tube 2-2.5 mm, hairy above, lamina ca. 0.5 mm wide, flat, involute when dry; disk florets yellow, 3.5-4 mm, sparsely hairy, limb cylindric-funnelform, lobes ovate, ca. 0.5 mm, glabrous, purplish, anthers and style branches often exserted from corolla. Achenes tan, narrowly oblong, compressed, 2-2.5 mm, densely strigose, 2-veined. Pappus 2-seriate, brownish, outer bristles ca. 0.6 mm, inner ca. 4 mm. Fl. Aug-Oct.
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