Herbs 7-18 cm tall, perennial. Caudex stout, simple or few branched, covered with remains of petioles. Stems solitary or several, erect or ascending, simple. Rosette leaves petiolate; petiole 5-10 mm; leaf blade linear-elliptic to narrowly obovate, 1.5-4 × 0.3-1 cm, pinnately lobed or pinnately dentate, abaxially grayish white and densely tomentose, adaxially green and sparsely arachnoid; lobes triangular. Stem leaves few, similar to rosette leaves or linear, pinnately lobed or undivided; upper and uppermost stem leaves linear, smaller than lower ones, undivided. Capitulum solitary at end of stem. Involucre bowl-shaped, 1.5-2 cm in diam. Phyllaries in 4 or 5 rows, densely arachnoid tomentose to glabrescent; outer phyllaries narrowly triangular-ovate, 2-5 × 1-2 mm, apex spiniform-acuminate and reflexed to patent; middle phyllaries narrowly ovate, 5-12 × 2-3 mm, apex acuminate; inner phyllaries linear, 12-15 × 2-3 mm, apex acuminate and not reflexed. Corolla reddish purple, 1.2-1.4 cm, tube ca. 7.5 mm, limb to 9 mm, lobes 3-4 mm. Achene obconic, 5-6 mm, apically spinulose-tuberculate. Pappus bristles white, barbellate, 2-11 mm, with 2-5 of inner ones much longer than others, basally connate into a ring, caducous. Fl. and fr. Jun.
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