Herbs 30-40 cm tall, perennial, with a globose tuber some cm below surface. Caudex unbranched or branched, with scarious adaxially densely lanate pale brown leaf sheath residues becoming lacerate and subfibrous with age. Stems few to several, erect to arched-erect, branched apically, leafy. Stem leaves linear-lanceolate, to 15 × 0.2-0.3 cm, base inconspicuously attenuate, apex acuminate and often somewhat hooked. Synflorescence sparsely corymbiform, with few capitula. Involucre narrowly cylindric, 2-2.4 × 0.4-0.5 cm at anthesis. Phyllaries with arachnoid hairy and glabrescent margin; outermost phyllaries ovate to ovate-lanceolate, ca. 4 mm. Florets yellow. Achene columnar, ca. 1 cm, with tuberculate ribs, glabrous. Pappus yellowish, 2.4-2.6 cm. Fl. May.