Herbs 20-100 cm tall. Stems solitary or up to 3, erect, usually long branched, sparsely cobwebby, base covered with petiole remains; wings wide, leathery, unequally spiny toothed. Leaves leathery, discolorous, abaxially grayish white and densely thickly felted, adaxially green and glabrous. Basal leaves with a brown fibrous basally thickened petiole; leaf blade ± broadly linear, ca. 33 × 3 cm, pinnately lobed or pinnatipartite; segments ca. 10 pairs, triangular, with 2 or 3 unequal teeth each with 2 or 3 lateral spines and a brown to yellowish 3-4 mm apical spine. Cauline leaves similar but sometimes undivided, narrowly triangular, smaller, with spiny teeth. Capitula several, in a lax corymb. Involucre campanulate, 3-4 cm in diam., glabrous. Outer phyllaries triangular, 5-10 × 1-1.5 mm, apex recurved to patent and spiniform; middle phyllaries lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 10-17 × 1-1.5 mm, apex similar to outer ones; inner phyllaries linear, ca. 2.3 × 0.1 cm, apex narrowed into a long spine. Corolla purple to bluish purple, ca. 2.7 cm, tube ca. 1.7 cm. Achene pale yellowish variegated with brown, long cuneate-ellipsoid, ca. 6 mm. Pappus bristles brown to pale brick colored, to 1.5 cm. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep.
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