Biennial herb, aromatic when fresh, flowering stems up to ±800 mm tall, simple below the inflorescence branches or sparingly forked at the base, glandular pubescent, thinly white-woolly as well mainly towards the tips of the inflorescence branches. Radical leaves rosetted in the first year of growth, persisting, dried and matted together, at the stem base in the second season, up to 100 x 350 mm, elliptic, narrowed in the lower third to a broad clasping base, apex obtuse to subacute, mucronate, both surfaces with long and short gland-tipped hairs, thinly greyish-white woolly as well; cauline leaves up to 90 x 25 mm, diminishing in size upwards, elliptic to lanceolate upwards, apex obtuse to acute to acuminate, base cordate-clasping, margins glandular-setose and white-woolly, both surfaces glandular-setose, only the lowermost derived from the basal rosette woolly as well. Heads heterogamous, depressed-globose, mostly 30-40 mm across the radiating bracts, 2-12 corymbosely arranged on leafy peduncles up to ±120 mm long. Involucral bracts in ±9 series, graded, imbricate, much exceeding flowers, radiating, glossy, inner bright yellow, outer overlaid pale golden-brown, rarely with a pink overcast. Receptacle nearly smooth. Flowers 786-1909, 71-261 female, 646-1648 homogamous, yellow. Achenes 1 mm long, barrel-shaped, obscurely ribbed, glabrous. Pappus bristles many, equalling corolla, tips subplumose, bases with patent cilia, cohering lightly.
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