Annual or short-lived perennial herb (5–)30–80 cm tall, much-branched, often prostrate or sometimes shrubby; tap-root long, woody; stem purple-brown, sparsely arachnose and setose.. Leaves largest towards base where sometimes congested into a pseudo-rosette, linear or narrowly lanceolate and entire, or lanceolate to ovate or obovate (with upper cauline leaves linear) and variously lobed or pinnatifid, up to 10.5 cm long, 3.5 cm wide, subpetiolate and long-tapering to clasping base, lobes linear or broader, broadly rounded, the top lobe the largest and ovate or elliptic and up to 1.3 cm long, 5.5 mm wide, apex spinescent and/or obtuse to rounded, margins entire to lobed, crenate to pinnatifid, revolute, with a few long setae 2–4.5 mm long at the base, variably setose above, white-felted beneath with setose midrib.. Inflorescence unbranched, capitula terminal, solitary on main stem and most branches with stem usually leafless close to capitulum, conspicuous, 7–37 mm diameter; involucre funnel-form, phyllaries 3–4-seriate, grey-green with purplish tip, darker green veins and a strongly marked midrib, connate for at least 1/2 of their length, awl-shaped, apex long-spinescent, margin closely minutely toothed, 5–23 mm long, 0.5–2 mm wide, variably arachnose with long setae on the midrib; receptacular scales united into deeply erose walls, 1.5 mm in height.. Ray florets lemon-yellow or orange, often with purple stain outside, elliptic or obovate, tubular for 1/4–1/3 of their length, 9–28 mm long, 0.75–5 mm wide, with 3–4 apical teeth, veins 5, glabrous or minutely papillose.. Disc florets bisexual, yellow or orange, lobed for up to 1/2 the floret length, lobes erect to spreading, 1.5–3 mm long, floret narrowly funnel-shaped, 3.5–6 mm long, glabrous or minutely papillose.. Achenes enclosed by pit walls, turbinate (immature), 1.5–4 mm long, 6–10-costate with minute vesicles scattered over the surface and with dense white or straw-coloured silky hairs of varying lengths up to 4 mm long, concealing the achene; pappus biseriate, enlarging as the achene develops, inner series a tuft of 7–10 erect scales within 9–12 more spreading outer scales, these linear-lanceolate or ovate, 2–8 mm long, 0.75–2 mm wide, acuminate, erose to tip, inner scales linear, obovate or ovate, 1–1.3 mm long, 0.5 mm wide, truncate or rounded, erose.. Fig. 59/1–12.
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