Herbs 15-60 cm tall, perennial, with a taproot, roots shoot bearing. Stem erect; branched apically, glabrous, leafy mainly in basal part. Leaves grayish green to glaucous, rigid, glabrous. Lower and middle stem leaves elliptic, narrowly elliptic, or linear, 6-19 × 2-6 cm, narrowed toward base, pinnatisect, pinnatifid, or coarsely dentate, apex acute to obtuse; lateral lobes 2-5 pairs, subelliptic to triangular, margin entire, denticulate, or spinulose; terminal lobe lanceolate to narrowly triangular, margin entire, denticulate, or spinulose. Upper stem leaves similar to middle stem leaves but smaller and less incised. Synflorescence racemiform to corymbosely paniculiform, almost leafless, usually with numerous capitula. Capitula with ca. 20 florets. Involucre cylindric, 1.1-1.4 × 0.3-0.5 cm at anthesis, to 2 cm in fruit. Phyllaries usually tinged purplish red, glabrous, apex acute to obtuse; outer phyllaries ovate to lanceolate; inner phyllaries ca. 8. Florets usually purplish blue to blue, rarely white. Achene 5-6 mm; body dark gray, columnar to very narrowly ellipsoid, subcompressed, with 5-7 ribs on either side, apically attenuate or contracted into a concolorous or pale stout 1-2 mm beak. Pappus ca. 1 cm. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep. 2n = 18.
It is a temperate plant. It grows in wetlands. In the Himalayas it grows between 3,000-4,500 m above sea level.
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