Annual or perennial herbs. Vegetative indumentum of flagelliform hairs with an elongate terminal cell on a few to many-celled uniseriate stalk. Stems erect, simple to much-branched, becoming stout and woody at the base, strongly striately ribbed, pilose. Leaves alternate, sessile, or sometimes petiolate, subentire to serrate or ± deeply serrate-lobed. Capitula homogamous and discoid, laxly corymbiformly cymose, stalked. Involucres broadly campanulate-cyathiform; phyllaries diverging somewhat, increasing in size to the inside, membranous or scarious with a narrow subhyaline margin, obscurely 3-nerved. Corollas purple to dark-mauve, exserted, narrowly infundibuliform, regularly 5-lobed; lobe apices acicular-setose, limb and tube somewhat glandular otherwise glabrous. Anther apices appendiculate, bases subacute. Style branches subulate, hirsute. Achenes narrowly oblong-obovoid and c. 4-ribbed (prismatic and 3–6-angled), rounded at the apex, rugulose and with globose glandular trichomes sunk in pits between the ribs, short appressed setae often also present between and on the ribs, otherwise glabrous; pappus 1-seriate of caducous coarsely barbellate or subplumose setae.