Herbs 4-20 cm tall, perennial, monocarpic. Caudex unbranched. Stem solitary, 8-10 mm in diam., erect, simple. Rosette and lower stem leaves petiolate; leaf blade narrowly ovate-oblong to linear, 4.5-16 × 0.5-1.5 cm, both surfaces green and sparsely pilose or glabrous, margin sparsely dentate to pinnately lobed, apex acute. Upper stem leaves sessile, linear, both surfaces purplish black and densely white lanate, margin sparsely denticulate, apex acute. Capitula numerous, loosely clustered on obovoid stem apex in a synflorescence 3-4.5 cm in diam., hidden at anthesis in a lanate indumentum, very shortly pedunculate. Involucre campanulate, ca. 1 cm in diam. Phyllaries in 3 or 4 rows, margin membranous, apex acute; outer phyllaries narrowly ovate, ca. 13 × 3 mm, apically blackish purple, densely pilose and glandular; inner phyllaries narrowly ovate to linear, ca. 11 × 2.5 mm, apically densely pilose. Receptacle bristles ca. 1.5 mm. Corolla bright purple to reddish purple, 7-8.5 mm, tube 2.5-3.5 mm, limb 4.5-5 mm, lobes 1.3-2 mm. Achene ca. 2.5 mm, wrinkled, apically sparsely papillose. Pappus dirty white; outer bristles ca. 4 mm; inner bristles ca. 8 mm. Fl. and fr. Aug-Sep. 2n = 32.
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