Perennial herb with short stout rhizomes; stems erect, terete, with sparse long simple and short glandular hairs all around above, becoming eglandular below, branched only above, up to c. 80 cm tall. Mid cauline lvs lanceolate, apetiolate and auriculate, acute, entire, sparsely to moderately hispidulous, 40-120 × 5-10 mm; uppermost lvs smaller. Infl. a few-headed, ± flat-topped corymb. Capitula 25-50 mm diam.; peduncles densely clothed in stalked glandular hairs. Involucral bracts ± equal; inner bracts linear-lanceolate, attenuate, glandular, tinged purple particularly toward apex, 9-12 mm long; outer bracts more herbaceous. Ray florets numerous; ligules pink to purple or reddish, c. 12-15 mm long. Ovary densely covered in antrorse hairs; mature achenes not seen.