Perennial herb with a small oval woody tuber ±10 mm in diam. crowned by a leaf rosette, flowering stems 1-4, lateral, slightly decumbent then erect to about 300 mm, simple, loosely white-woolly, leafy. Radical leaves up to 70 x 1-5 mm, elliptic, with 5 parallel veins, firm-textured, apex acute, mucronate, base broad, clasping, margins thickened, glabrous or with sparse rough hairs, veins and margins glabrous or woolly; cauline leaves up to 75 x 10 mm, rapidly smaller upwards and passing into bracts, more or less distichous, clasping, linear-lanceolate, lowermost conduplicate, slightly falcate, upper erect, straight, otherwise as the radical leaves. Heads homogamous, cylindric, ±5 x 5 mm, many in a terminal compound head 20-30 mm across, tightly congested, the bases webbed together with white wool. Involucral bracts in ±4 series, subequal or the outer a little shorter, loosely imbricate, not radiating, equalling the flowers, translucent, golden-yellow overlaid light brown. Receptacle paleate. Flowers ±45-55, yellow. Achenes 1 mm, elliptic, with myxogenic duplex hairs. Pappus bristles ±4-8, delicate, tips barbellate, bases nude, not cohering.