Stems and branches creeping, rooting, silky-hairy to nearly glab., wiry, forming rather open patches up to c. 2 dm. diam. Lvs scattered to close set in tufts at nodes, rather narrow-oblong, on slender, rigid, erect petioles up to 10 mm. long. Lamina ± 20-30-40 × 10-20 mm. in open state, glab. to sparsely hairy, pinnate to pinnatisect; pinnae linear, c. 3-5 pairs, rather rigid, subcoriac., acute, us. apiculate; upper c. 7 × 1 mm., lower us. minute; costa rigid, slender, ± clad in ascending hairs. Scape very slender, up to 10 cm. long, nude or with 1 minute bract near middle. Capitula c. 5-7 mm. diam.; receptacle conical. Phyll. up to c. 20 in 2-3 series, 3-3·5 mm. long, ± oblong, densely clad on outside in long subappressed hairs; apex purplish, erose, midvein evident. Florets white. ♀ in several series; corolla ovoid, narrowed at mouth, minutely 2-4-toothed. ♂ funnelform, glandular, tube c. 3 mm. long, teeth ovate-triangular, c. 1 mm. long. Achenes narrow-obovoid, compressed, c. 2 mm. long, ± glandular, strongly grooved.

A highly variable creeping perennial herb forming loose patches on open ground or dense mats in closed herbfields. Rhizomes at or near soil surface, rather stout, up to 2 mm diam., dark, densely villous at least when young; branches in clusters of up to 4 radiating from around a flowering node or solitary at flowering nodes if internodes are long; leaves initially clustered at apex, sts remaining crowded, us. older ones becoming up to 2.0 cm apart. No short shoots. Roots often extensive and much-branched, stout, up to 1 mm diam. Leaves 1- pinnatifid, occ. simple, 0.7-4.0 × 0.2-1.0 cm; blade 0.5-3.0 cm, elliptic or obovate, coriaceous, silky green and densely villous to dark green and glabrous, midrib not raised on ventral surface; pinnae 1-10 pairs, occ. absent, close-set in exposed habitats but us. distant, cut to rhachis, oblong, obovate or linear, obtuse, teeth often 0 sts 1-3 pinna, mostly on proximal margin, cut ca. \ across pinna, triangular, obtuse. Peduncles longer than leaves, 1-10 cm, nude or with 1 simple bract, sparsely to densely villous. Monoecious. Heads 4-8 mm diam.; involucre subcampanulate; phyllaries 12-24 in 2 or more subequal rows, oblong, dark green or grey-green, with 1-3 dark veins sts obscured by sparse to dense hairs, with wide brown scarious margin, not growing after anthesis; pistillate florets 12-200 in 1-several rows, 2.25-2.75 mm long, straight, white or pale yellow-red, often with 1-2 dark stripes along corolla and ovary; corolla 1½—3 times as long as wide, with equal teeth; staminate florets more numerous. Achenes up to 2.1 × 0.7 mm, ± compressed, biconvex, golden-brown, scarcely or deeply wrinkled Flowers in summer.