Perennial herb up to 75 cm tall, whole plant glabrous except for woolly nodes at base of stem and wool hidden deep in the leaf axils, stem solitary, simple below the inflorescence branches, leafy in the lower half, nearly nude above. Leaves mostly 3-5 confined to the lower part of stem, sometimes an additional one midway on the upper stem half, and often a reduced one below the first forking, then a bract subtending each major fork, up to 17 x 2(-3) cm, elliptic-oblong to lanceolate-elliptic, ratio of length to breadth of middle leaf 6.5-17:1, exceptionally as low as 4.5:1, apex acute to very acute, base broad, clasping, very shortly decurrent, margins slightly thickened, entire or obscurely and remotely callose-denticulate, somewhat leathery when dry, faintly penninerved. Heads discoid, many on sparsely bracteate peduncles arranged in a spreading corymbose panicle. Involucre turbinate, bracts 4-6, 4.5-6 mm long, about half as long as the flowers, tips fimbriate; calyculus bracts 1 or 2, very small. Flowers 7-10, bright yellow. Ovaries 2.5-3 mm, glabrous. Achenes not seen.
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