Herbs 20-30 cm tall, perennial. Caudex stout, few branched, covered with blackish remains of petioles. Stems usually solitary, 3-5 mm in diam., erect, simple. Rosette and lower stem leaves sessile or shortly petiolate; leaf blade narrowly elliptic to obovate, 10-16 × 1-2.4 cm, both surfaces green and sparsely pilose to densely villous, base attenuate, margin denticulate to subentire, apex acute. Middle and upper stem leaves sessile, narrowly ovate to ovate, 6.5-10 × 2-3.4 cm, both surfaces green to purple, base semiamplexicaul. Uppermost stem leaves ovate and boat-shaped, 4-6.5 × 2-4.8 cm, half-enclosing involucre, both surfaces purplish red. Capitulum solitary. Involucre broadly campanulate, 2.5-4 cm in diam. Phyllaries in 3-5 rows, blackish brown, villous, apex acute; outer phyllaries triangular-ovate, 8-10 × 3-3.5 mm; middle phyllaries narrowly elliptic to ovate, 11-14 × 3-3.5 mm; inner phyllaries linear, 1.6-2 × 0.2-0.3 cm. Corolla purple, 1.4-1.7 cm, tube 6-9 mm, limb 7.5-8 mm, lobes 4.6-5.7 mm. Achene (immature) cylindric, ca. 5 mm. Pappus dirty white; outer bristles 3-6.5 mm; inner bristles 1.7-1.8 cm. Fl. and fr. Aug-Sep.
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