Robust, rigid, spinescent, much-branched shrubs, 200-450 mm tall. Old stems and branches grey to grey-black; young shoots chestnut-brown, initially densely silvery sericeous, glabrescent, opposite branches forming an angle of almost 180°. Leaves decussate, rarely alternate on some flowering shoots or clustered on brachyblasts, sessile on cushion-like thickenings, 4.5-9.0 x 1.2-2.2 mm, entire, rarely with single lobe, adaxially basally strongly concave with glabrous, triangular, basal part where consecutive leaves press against each other, otherwise densely appressed sericeous, distally weakly concave to flattened, abaxially semiterete, permanently silver-white sericeous, apex obtuse to acute, leaf base slightly broadened. Capitula heterogamous radiate, 4-7, terminally, umbellate or semi-umbellate, or solitary on brachyblasts, relatively large, 5-6 mm long; peduncles 4-10 mm long, densely appressed sericeous. Involucral bracts 4 or 5, broadly ovate, 4.6 x 3.3 mm, triangular, herbaceous central part with broad purple to red-purple membranous margin, some slightly keeled, others flattened, appressed sericeous, apex obtuse, rarely acute, slightly fringed. Paleae: those of marginal florets connate, 6.0-6.5 mm long, 4-lobed, coriaceous, hard, free apices fringed, abaxially long-lanate; those of disc florets transparent, membranous, lanceolate to narrowly linear, 5.2-6.0 mm long, outer slightly keeled, inner slightly flattened, abaxially long-lanate, apex acute, fringed. Ray florets 2-4, 4-6 mm long; lamina broadly cuneate, 3-or 4-dentate or lobed, 3.5 x 3.5-4.2 mm, white or pale to dark purple. Style cylindrical, forked, branches flattened, linear, acute, 2.0-2.6 mm long. Ovary (and cypsela) oblong to oblanceolate, densely long-lanate. Seed slightly flattened, obovoid, 3.0-3.5 mm long. Disc florets 12-22, 5-6 mm long, functionally male with sterile ovary; corolla trumpet-shaped to infundibuliform, base creamy, widened distal part red-purple, 5-lobed. Style unbranched, apex slightly convex, with sweeping hairs. Stamens 5. Receptacle after anthesis with dense, white to light brown, long-pilose indumentum between involucral bracts and connate marginal paleae.
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Rigid, divaricately branched, spinescent shrublet, 0.2-0.45 m tall. Leaves mostly decussate on flowering and short-shoots, linear-concave, 5-9 mm long, densely silvery white-silky. Flowerheads solitary or umbellate on peduncles 4-10 mm long, radiate, 5-6 mm long; involucral bracts 4 or 5, appressed-silky; ray florets 2-4, white or pale to dark purple, ± 3.5 mm long; marginal paleae connate in a tube, silky.
Densely silvery silky, ± thorny, rigid shrublet to 45 cm. Leaves opposite and imbricate, linear. Flower heads radiate, large, few in terminal clusters, purplish with white rays.
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