Herbs 30-150 cm tall, perennial. Stem solitary, erect, 5-6 mm in diam., apically few branched, apically flexuous, basally glabrous, apically strigose with brown articulate hairs. Lower and middle stem leaves petiolate; petiole 1-3 cm; leaf blade ovate, elliptic, or narrowly ovate-elliptic, 6-20 × (2-)3.5-7 cm, both surfaces green, abaxially sparsely pubescent on veins or glabrous, adaxially scabrid and sparsely strigose, base slightly cordate, truncate, or cuneate-attenuate, margin coarsely dentate-serrate, apex acuminate. Upper stem leaves shortly petiolate to subsessile, smaller; leaf blade narrowly ovate-elliptic. Capitula 2 or 3(-6), in a lax corymbiform synflorescence or sometimes solitary, long pedunculate. Involucre campanulate, (0.8-)1.3-2 cm in diam. Phyllaries in 4-6 rows, brown but dark purple apically, sparsely pilose, apex acute to acuminate and patent to reflexed; outer phyllaries narrowly ovate-triangular, 8-11 × 3-3.5 mm; middle phyllaries narrowly ovate-elliptic, 8-16 × 2-3 mm; inner phyllaries narrowly elliptic to linear, 16-20 × 1.5-2 mm. Receptacle bristles 0.8-1.2 cm. Corolla purple, 1.2-1.4 cm, tube 6-7 mm, limb 6-7 mm, lobes 4-5 mm. Achene brown, cylindric, ca. 4 mm, glabrous. Pappus dirty white; outer bristles few or sometimes lacking, 1.5-5 mm, scabrid; inner bristles 1-1.1 cm. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct.
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