Herbs 30-40 cm tall, perennial. Stem solitary, erect, simple or apically few branched, narrowly winged. Basal leaves petiolate; petiole 4-6 cm, narrowly winged; leaf blade ovate to elliptic, 6-10 × 3-5 cm, abaxially white, densely tomentose, and with brown hairs on veins, adaxially green, scabridulous, and densely strigose, base cuneate-attenuate and decurrent, margin shallowly crenate, denticulate, or subentire, apex obtuse and mucronate. Lower stem leaves petiolate; petiole 1-1.5 cm, winged, base widened, semiamplexicaul, and decurrent on stem; leaf blade ovate, 4.5-6 × 1.8-2.5 cm. Middle and upper stem leaves petiolate or sessile, gradually smaller upward on stem; leaf blade narrowly elliptic to linear. Capitula 2-4, in a racemiform or corymbiform synflorescence or sometimes solitary, long pedunculate. Involucre ovoid, (5-)8-10 mm in diam. Phyllaries in 5 or 6 rows, straw-colored but apically purple, sparsely arachnoid, apex obtuse and mucronate; outer phyllaries ovate, 3-4 × 1-2 mm; middle phyllaries narrowly ovate-elliptic, 4-10 × 2-2.5 mm; inner phyllaries linear, 12-13 × 1-1.5 mm. Receptacle bristles subulate-filiform, 7-9 mm. Corolla purple, 1.4-1.5 cm, tube 7-8 mm, limb 7-7.5 mm, lobes 3.5-4 mm. Pappus dirty white; outer bristles 1.5-2 mm, scabrid; inner bristles 8-10 mm. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct.
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