Herbs 4-30 cm tall, perennial. Caudex simple or few branched, covered with blackish brown withered remains of leaf bases. Stems usually solitary, 1.5-3.5(-5) mm in diam., erect, simple. Rosette and lower stem leaves narrowly linear, 4-18 × 0.1-0.6 cm, abaxially paler green and pilose on midvein, adaxially dark green and glabrous, base attenuate, margin revolute and entire or denticulate, apex obtuse. Middle and upper stem leaves sessile, linear-subulate to narrowly ovate, 2-10 × 0.3-1 cm, both surfaces sericeous, apex acuminate. Uppermost stem leaves triangular-ovate, ovate, or elliptic, 1.3-2 × 0.4-1.1 cm, both surfaces blackish purple and densely sericeous, apex acute. Capitulum solitary. Involucre campanulate, 2-3 cm in diam. Phyllaries in 4 or 5 rows, black, sericeous; outer phyllaries narrowly triangular-ovate, 7-13 × 3-4 mm, apex obtuse; middle and inner phyllaries 11-14 × 1-2 mm, apex obtuse to acute. Receptacle bristles (0.6-)4-7 mm. Corolla purple, 0.9-1.5 cm, tube 4.5-8 mm, limb 5.5-7 mm, lobes 3-5 mm. Achene straw-colored with black spots, cylindric, 3.5-5.5 mm, ribbed, apex with a short crown. Pappus dirty white; outer bristles 1-6 mm; inner bristles 0.9-1.2 cm. Fl. and fr. Aug-Sep.
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