Herb, several-stemmed, with woody tuberous rootstock; stems ascending, white-tomentose, 20–50 cm tall. Leaves sessile; blade ovate or lanceolate, 10–18 cm long, 1–6 cm wide, rounded or cuneate into a slightly to prominently expanded ± sheathing base, minutely serrulate, obtuse to acute and obscurely acuminate-apiculate, bright green and glabrous above, silvery-white or grey tomentose beneath, pinnately veined with numerous conspicuous subparallel ascending veins. Capitula solitary, terminal; involucre narrowly ovoid to obconic, 27–35 mm long, glabrous or almost so; phyllaries ± 70, ± 8-seriate, rather rigid, outer ovate, median broadly oblong or oblong, innermost narrowly elliptic or oblong-elliptic, all obtuse to rounded, smooth, green with purplish membranous margins, the longest to 19 mm long. Florets ± 40; corolla dark crimson red or rarely pale pink, 22–24 mm long, lobes oblong-lanceolate, 4.5–6 mm long, anthers red or rarely pale yellow. Achenes 8–11 mm long, strongly 5-ribbed, ascending-pilose; pappus stramineous, 12–16 mm long. Fig. 6/1–2.