Stems 3–10 dm from a stout, branched caudex, uniformly pubescent with short, spreading hairs, occasionally glabrate near the base; lvs chiefly cauline, broadly ovate or elliptic-ovate, all except sometimes the uppermost evidently short-petiolate, ± triple-nerved, but also pinnately veined, finely and usually densely spreading-hairy at least on the lower side, generally only those near the infl reduced, the others 1.3–2 times as long as wide, the larger ones 3.5–9 × 2.5–7 cm; infl paniculiform, with recurved-secund branches, or the heads apparently sometimes drooping; invol 3–4.5 mm, its bracts obtuse or rounded; rays 3–7, well developed; disk-fls 4–7; achenes short-hairy; 2n=18. Cliff-crevices and rocky woods, especially in calcareous soil; Mo., Ill., and Ark.