Herbs 12-15 cm tall, base often thickened by remnants of old petioles. Petiole pale green, ± unwinged; leaf blade mid-green to slightly grayish green, narrowly oblanceolate to broadly linear in outline, 10-13 × 1.5-1.8 cm, sparsely arachnoid, pinnatilobed to pinnatisect but some almost undivided, midvein pale green; lateral lobes of inner leaves 3-5 pairs, linear-triangular, narrow, usually ± patent to recurved, margin entire or distal side with a single tooth on base; interlobes long, narrow, to 1.5 × 0.3 cm, margin entire; terminal lobe subobtuse, margin usually entire, basal segments ± patent. Scapes brownish green, ± equaling leaves, sparsely arachnoid to subglabrous. Capitulum 2-2.5 cm wide. Involucre 7-10 mm wide, base ± rounded. Outer phyllaries (11-)13-19, blackish green, ± not imbricate, linear-lanceolate, outermost ones 5-8 × 1.3-2 mm and ca. 3/4 as long as inner ones, ± appressed, with a whitish narrow ca. 0.4 mm border, margin glabrous to sparsely ciliate, apex with a conspicuous horn; inner phyllaries 1-1.2 cm, callose below apex. Ligules yellow; outer ligules flat, outside striped pinkish gray; inner ligules with grayish purple teeth. Stigmas slightly grayish or greenish pale yellow. Anthers polliniferous; pollen grains irregular in size. Achene light gray straw-colored brown when unripe but later getting darker and becoming blackish gray(-brown), 4.5-5.9 × 1.1-1.4 mm; body spinulose in upper 1/2-3/5 on ridges and apically also elsewhere, ± subgradually narrowing into a cylindric 1-1.5 mm cone, spinules thick and acute; beak 4-5.5 mm. Pappus ± white, ca. 6 mm. Fl. late spring. Agamosperm.
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