Plants (3–)5–37(–47 in fruit) cm; taproots sometimes branched. Stems 1–5, erect to ascending, purplish, (usually exceeding leaves), glabrate to sparsely villous proximally, ± densely villous distally. Leaves 5–20, erect to patent, sometimes horizontal; sessile (bases sometimes as wide as blade) to ± broadly winged petiolate (occasionally slender on young or deeply shaded specimens, usually at least some ± winged); blades oblanceolate or oblong-oblanceolate (often runcinate), (3–)3.5–27 × 0.6–5 cm, bases usually cuneate, sometimes attenuate, margins regularly and shallowly lobed, sometimes ± deeply (not lacerate) to dentate, lobes mostly retrorse, usually triangular, sometimes deltate or lanceolate, ± acuminate, often replaced by teeth, teeth 0–5 on lobes or irregular, often coarse, triangular to lanceolate, ± acuminate, apices obtuse or acute to short-acuminate, faces glabrous or glabrate, midveins often sparsely villous. Calyculi of 10–12, spreading to eventually reflexed, often pale, sometimes purplish-tinged, lance-ovate to broadly lanceolate (thin) bractlets in 3 series, 5.5–9.5 × 1.8–2.7(–4.2) mm, margins not or narrowly scarious, apices long-acuminate, hornless. Involucres green to dark green, campanulate to cylindro-campanulate, 12–22 mm. Phyllaries 14–18 in 2 series, lanceolate, 1.4–3.2 mm wide, margins not or very narrowly scarious (outer) to narrowly scarious in proximal 1/2 (inner), apices long-acuminate, hornless, tips ± hyaline, blackish and/or purplish, scarious. Florets 60–110+; corollas yellow (outer abaxially gray and/or purplish striped), 15–22 × 1.1–1.7 mm. Cypselae tan to reddish brown, bodies oblanceoloid, 2.8–3.5 mm, cones conic, 0.5–0.8 mm, beaks slender, 6.5–12 mm, ribs 4–5 prominent (to 13–15 fine), faces proximally smooth to occasionally slightly tuberculate, muricate in distal 1/4–1/3 (spines usually sparse); pappi white to cream, 5–7.5 mm. 2n = 32.