Stems to 1+ m, branched above, finely puberulent or even tomentose above; lvs ovate, lance-ovate, or oblong, acute or short-acuminate, serrate, obtuse or rounded at base, whitened beneath with very fine hairs, or also hirsutulous on the veins, the main ones 5–10 × 1.5–3.5 cm, on petioles 5–15 mm; heads relatively loose, 1.5–3.5 cm wide; bracts and cal finely canescent or tomentulose; cal-lobes triangular, acute or barely acuminate, tending to be bristle-tipped, the lower 1–1.5 mm, the upper 0.5–1 mm; cor white, mottled with purple, the lower lip 2–3 mm; 2n=76. Upland woods; Vt. and N.Y. to s. O. and s. Ill., s. to N.C. and Tenn.