Plants 35–80 cm; rhizomes horizontal to ascending, short, this and its branches apically caudexlike, to 5 mm thick, mostly embedded in imbricate chaffy bases of older leaves. Stems 1–3, terete, shallow-ly multicostate, glabrous, sparsely to moderately hirtellous distally (arrays). Leaves: basal and proximal cauline winged-petiolate; blades mostly spatulate to oblanceolate, 100–150 × 15–32 mm, tapering, margins distally coarsely but shallowly serrate, apices acute to narrowly rounded, often narrowed to short, often brown callused tips; mid to distal cauline progressively more narrowly oblanceolate and acute, then to elliptic or lanceolate-elliptic, 35–60 × 6–10 mm, reduced distally, grading into widely ascending to spreading or reflexed bracts; faces abaxially pale, midnerves raised, deep green, level reticulum of branch nerves, margins entire, ciliate, adaxially deep green with only impressed midnerve evident. Heads 10–50 (1–5+ per branch), in racemiform or narrowly paniculiform arrays, mostly with primary branches widely to narrowly ascending, proximalmost usually longest. Peduncles stiffly, widely ascending, angulate, slightly compressed, stubby-bracteolate; bracts grading into phyllaries, sparsely hirtellous. Involucres turbinate, 8–12 mm. Phyllaries (in 3–4 series) 1–1.3 mm wide, unequal, pilose-ciliate; outer mostly green, oblong, blunt, inner spatulate or linear-oblanceolate. Ray florets 6–10; laminae 3–4 mm. Disc florets 11–14; corollas 6 mm, lobes ca. 2 mm. Cypselae cylindric to somewhat compressed-obconic, 1.5–4 mm, typically 5-ribbed, glabrous, abruptly narrowed to short "neck" surmounted by narrow, brownish pappus disc; pappi (white) 3–4 mm. 2n = 36.
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