Caudexes thickly covered with fibrous remnants of leaf bases. Stems up to 50 cm tall. Basal and lower cauline leaves in whorls of 3 or 4, narrowly elliptic, 5-9 × 1-2 cm, adaxially pubescent, connate basally, forming a loose sheath, margins entire or remotely toothed, ciliate, spinose; upper cauline leaves similar, uppermost whorl often barely connate. Inflorescence short initially, 2-3 cm, elongating rapidly, terete, or slightly grooved, densely covered with whitish, mostly retrorse hairs. Flowers in 20 or more closely packed whorls of 8-12; involucral bracts leaflike, regularly decussate, lowermost whorl similar to leaves but smaller, usually 3-lobed; lobes irregularly spinose-dentate, acute or cuspidate; central lobe larger, often reddish or deeply colored; involucels tubular-campanulate, 4-6 mm, ca. 2 mm wide at base, laminate, becoming larger and rigid in fruit, villous, often with stalked or sessile glands, 4-12-dentate, one tooth often larger. Calyx tube tubular-campanulate, 2.5-4 mm at anthesis; limb 2-fid; lobes shallowly divided; lobules rounded to apiculate, outside glabrous, inside villous and glandular. Corolla included, ± tubular, outside glabrous, 4-lobed; posterior lobe ± fimbriate; anterior lobe entire, exceeding posterior, inside hispid; lateral 2 lobes very small. Stamens inserted at middle part of corolla tube; filaments short, with a tuft of hairs below anthers; staminodes at base of corolla tube, shortly stalked. Style slightly shorter than corolla tube; stigma disk-shaped. Achenes subglobose, 3-5 mm, abaxially with a shallow furrow, apex slightly obliquely truncate, obtusely pointed, somewhat rugose. Fl. May-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep.
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