Annual to biennial herbs with single or few stems arising from stock, unbranched, angled, appressed-tomentose, becoming glab. or nearly so below, up to c. 4 dm. tall. Lvs narrow-linear to narrow-lanceolate or narrow-oblanceolate, apiculate, semiamplexicaul at base, glab. above, clad in appressed white tomentum below; lower lvs ± 10-20 cm. × 5-10 mm., upper lvs smaller. Infl. of a single terminal glomerule of capitula subtended by foliaceous bracts of unequal size from 2-7 cm. long, having woolly hairs at base, innermost short, widely expanded at base. Capitula c. 10-15 per glomerule, c. 3-5 mm. diam., invested with white floccose hairs at base. Phyll. scarious; outer broad, obtuse; inner linear, subacute, c. 4 mm. long. Receptacle c. 2 mm. diam., convex, finely alveolate. Pappus-hairs c. 10, filiform, sordid-white, c. 3 mm. long. Achenes c. 0∙5 mm. long, linear, minutely papillose and with scattered appressed hairs.

Stoloniferous perennial; stems 1-few, ascending to erect, simple or sparingly branched, 20-70 cm tall. Lvs either basal and cauline at flowering, or basal lvs withered or 0; cauline lvs apetiolate, densely white-tomentose on lower surface, glabrous on upper, plane or somewhat keeled, lanceolate, narrow-oblanceolate to linear, cuneate or not narrowed to base and amplexicaul, acute, 30-200 × (1)-4-12 mm; basal lvs cuneate; uppermost lvs linear-lanceolate. Capitula c. 1.5-3 mm diam., few to numerous in dense ± globular terminal clusters, often smaller axillary clusters below; longest subtending lvs 1-4× diam. of cluster. Involucral bracts ovate- to elliptic-oblong, acutely narrowed or rounded to blunt apex, 4-4.5 mm long; stereome green; lamina pale brown; gap and margins clear, partly tinged reddish purple. Achenes minutely papillate, c. 0.6 mm long.