Herbs 14-17 cm tall. Petiole green or purplish, very broadly winged in outer leaves but narrowly so in inner ones; leaf blade dark green, usually suffused bronze, and with a brownish pink midvein, broadly linear-oblanceolate to narrowly oblong, 10-17 × 2-3.5 cm, arachnoid, pinnatisect; lateral lobes (4 or)5 or 6(or 7) pairs, ± triangular, subrecurved, distal part sometimes lingulate-elongated, proximal margin straight and entire, distal margin shallowly sigmoid to ± straight and usually sparsely denticulate or sometimes entire, apex acute; interlobes with deep purple brown spots, short, 4-7 mm wide, margin irregularly dentate; terminal lobe broadly triangular to helmet-shaped, 1-3 × 1.5-2.5 cm, terminal segment elongated, margin usually entire or with irregular teeth or incisions. Scapes purplish green, subequaling leaves, ± densely arachnoid. Capitulum 3.5-4.5 cm wide. Involucre ca. 1 cm wide, base ± rounded. Outer phyllaries 16-22, abaxially deep olivaceous green and apically brownish pink, ± not imbricate, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, outermost ones 9-11 × 3-5 mm and ca. 2/3 as long as inner ones, conspicuously irregularly patent to arcuate-recurved, border light grayish green but later abaxially also suffused brownish purple, membranous, and 0.1-0.2 mm wide, margin glabrous, apex ± callose; inner phyllaries 1.1-1.2 cm. Ligules deep yellow; outer ligules ± flat, outside striped greenish gray; inner ligules with dirty yellow or yellow teeth at apex. Stigmas grayish yellow, abaxially partly blackish pubescent. Anthers polliniferous; pollen grains irregular in size. Achene grayish light brown, 3.7-3.9 × 0.9-1 mm; body with prominent lateral ridges, densely spinulose-squamulose above, ± subgradually narrowing into a ± conic 0.5-0.7 mm cone; beak 1-1.1 cm. Pappus ± white, ca. 6 mm. Fl. late spring. Agamosperm.
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