Description:
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An erect perennial herb to c. 120 cm. tall, from a semi-woody narrowly turbinate taproot; stems solitary, branched above, glabrous or sparsely glandular-setulose, often purple-tinged; leaves contemporaneous with flowers or sometimes delayed, cauline, up to c. 10 x 2.5 cm., oblanceolate-elliptic, undivided, obtuse mucronate, remotely denticulate and ciliate on the margins, bases attenuate to semi-amplexicaul, glabrous or sparsely setulose on the midrib and main nerves; upper leaves decreasing in size towards the stem apex becoming linear-lanceolate; synflorescences paniculate up to 40 cm. long, occasionally much reduced and spicate; branches up to c. 15 cm. long; capitula stalked or subsessile, solitary or in clusters of 2–4; involucres 7–9 x 1.5–2 mm. at time of flowering, increasing to 12 x 2.5 mm. in fruiting capitula, cylindric, glaucous to purple-tinged; phyllaries ciliolate above otherwise glabrous, the outermost ± narrowly ovate, the innermost up to 11 x 2.5 mm., narrowly lanceolate; florets c. 5 per capitulum; corollas yellow, up to c. 11 mm. long, the tube c. 5 mm. long, cylindric, glabrous; achenes reddish-brown, 4.5–5 x 1.75–2 mm. (including the c. 0.5 mm. long beak) flattened-ellipsoid, margins swollen, narrowly 1-ribbed, rarely 2–3-ribbed on each face, hispidulous; pappus several-seriate of white, barbellate setae c. 5–6 mm. long. |