A bushy perennial herb to c. 60 cm. tall from a woody rootstock. Stems annual, 1-many, much branched, leafy, becoming ribbed, sericeous; indumentum of short-stalked T-shaped hairs with long dorso-ventrally flattened tapering arms. Leaves alternate, sessile, mostly 2–6 cm. long and less than 0.1 cm. wide, filiform-linear with strongly revolute margins, upper surface sparsely pilose-puberulous soon glabrescent, lower surface sericeous to floccose-lanate. Capitula many in lax, simple to compound corymbiform cymes; capitula stalks 1–6 cm. long, filiform. Involucres 4–5 x 5 mm., spreading to c. 10 mm. wide, obconic-cyathiform; phyllaries few-seriate, the outermost much reduced, the inner c. 2 series subequal and broadly oblong-oblanceolate, ± abruptly narrowed and mucronate at the apex, sericeous outside. Corollas exserted above the involucre, mauve, sometimes purplish, 6–9 mm. long, widely funnel-shaped above and shortly tubular below, limb deeply lobed, lobes to c. 4 mm. long, limb and tube appressed pilose-pubescent with T-shaped hairs. Achenes c. 2 mm. long, narrowly obpyramidal to somewhat turbinate, truncate above, tapering to a sharp base, c. 5-angular, densely hirsute with long straight minutely bifid hairs, glandular especially towards the base and apex; pappus persistent, of many often purplish or brownish, overlapping scales, c. 0.6 mm. long.
