An erect perennial herb 20–40 cm. tall, with annual stems from a small woody rootstock; roots short thong-like, each swelling abruptly into a root tuber; tubers 1.5–2.5 x 0.5–1 cm., ovoid-fusiform. Stems purple, usually solitary, branching sparsely above or throughout, leafy except below, puberulous; indumentum a mixture of relatively few long-stalked flagelliform hairs, and more numerous short-stalked appressed ± unequal-armed T-shaped hairs. Leaves mostly 3–9 x 0.4–1.3 cm., decreasing in size to the stem apex and base, narrowly oblong-elliptic, acute or subobtuse mucronate at the apex, cuneate below, margins subentire to remotely serrulate; lamina thinly coriaceous, upper surface puberulous with sparse appressed T-shaped hairs, sometimes with patent flagelliform hairs or glabrescent, lower surface ± strigose with T-shaped hairs, these often more numerous on the nerves, sometimes intermixed with flagelliform hairs. Capitula few to many, solitary on branches up to c. 6 cm. long and somewhat racemose, or in ± lax capitulum-clusters cymosely arranged. Involucres 5–10 x 9–11 mm., very broadly obconic-campanulate to broadly cup-shaped, wider than long. Phyllaries many-seriate, narrowly acute-pungent or finely tapering to a bristle tip, pilose with appressed short-stalked hairs intermixed with few to numerous larger patent flagelliform hairs; the outer phyllaries from c. 2 mm. long, very narrowly lanceolate, the inner to c. 6 mm. long, lanceolate, or phyllaries subequal to c. 8 mm. long and linear-lanceolate or subulate. Florets c. 70 per capitulum. Corollas purple, 5–6 mm. long, narrowly funnel-shaped. Achenes 1.5–2 mm. long, subcylindric to narrowly turbinate, truncate at the apex, c. 4-angular and narrowly ribbed on the angles, with scattered brownish cells on the faces between, otherwise glabrous; pappus 2-seriate, the outer reduced to a low rim of small ± free or united lacerate scales, inner pappus of caducous brown barbellate setae 1–2 mm. long.