Erect strong perennial herb, 3 ft. high, simple or nearly so; stem terete, obscurely striate, lanate-pubescent above, glabrate below, leafy. Leaves ovate-oblong, obtuse or subacute, apiculate, sessile, wide clasping and somewhat decurrent at the base, tomentellous beneath, squamoso-asperulous above, marked with obscure longitudinal veins, entire, 1 1/2–3 1/2 in. long by 1/2–1 1/4 in. wide. Capitula hemispherical, very many-flowered, 1 1/4 in. diameter, solitary, on distinct peduncles, 1–3 1/2 in. long, 4–8 in a terminal corymb, 3–6 in. diameter. Scales of the involucre pluriseriate, lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous, shining, hyaline above, more coriaceous and often purplish at base; inner linear-lanceolate, obtuse or subacute, white; outer shorter, often purplish, acute, spreading. Receptacle naked. Fl. all hermaphrodite. Achenes thinly pubescent, small. Pappus sordid, barbellate.
