annual, with a thick simple root; stem branched from the base, glandularly pubescent and pilose; leaves mostly alternate, oblongo- or obovato-lanceolate, tapering at base, obtuse or subacute, on both sides roughly hairy and glandular, papulose above, 1-nerved; peduncles terminal, glandular; invol. bi-seriate, the outer scales keeled, glandular, green, acute, the inner lanceolate with wide membranous edges and a green back, all barbellate; achenes pubescent, 2-ribbed, obovate, black. Seemingly an annual, but more robust and glandular than any of our other annual Asters. Rootstock 1–1 1/2 lines in diameter, woody, deeply descending. Stems 4–10 inches high, erect, branched from the crown, closely leafy. Lvs. very rough, the older ones almost echinated with the stumps of fallen hairs. Heads many-flowered; invol. of about 20 scales. Disc partly sterile. This looks different from A. adfinis, but it is not easy to express the difference in words, except by saying that it is more robust, rough, and glandular.
