Perennial herbs with annual stems from woody rootstocks. Vegetative indumentum of short-stalked flagelliform hairs. Stems many, densely leafy, with short internodes, branching above. Leaves alternate or spirally arranged, opposite or whorled, sessile to shortly petiolate, felted-tomentose, sparsely pilose or glabrescent, glandular-punctate. Capitula homogamous, numerous, in lax or ± dense clusters at the ends of branches, or the capitulum-clusters arranged in a large corymbiform cyme, occasionally the capitula somewhat scorpioidly arranged. Involucres campanulate to subglobose, florets exserted; phyllaries several-seriate, progressively larger to the inside. Receptacle flat, shallowly alveolate. Corollas purple or mauve, darker in the upper half, regularly 5-lobed, lobes lanate or pilose. Anthers with a broad hyaline apical appendage and short acute tails at the base. Style-arms subulate, hairy outside. Achenes obovoid-oblong or turbinate, 4–5-sided and obscurely ribbed on the angles, truncate at the apex, smooth or strongly rugose on the faces between the ribs, glabrous or sparsely setulose, minutely brown gland-dotted. Pappus persistent, of ± united broad shiny scales lacerate on the upper margin, or of scales sometimes free and alternating with paleaceous setae. Pollen described as triporate, lophate and emicropunctate.