Annual, rarely biennial, spineless herbs with entire to dentate-pinnatisect, simple leaves. Capitula pedunculate, heterogamous, radiant, solitary. Phyllaries multiseriate, imbricate, outer and median without appendages, obtuse or scarious, ± triangular, brown, innermost with scarious apical appendages. Receptacle beset with setaceous paleae. Florets pale-yellow to pink; outer or marginal florets sterile, with 5-multi-lobed tubular limb, much exceeding or equal to involucre; inner florets bisexual, with apically thickened, recurved lobes. Anthers basally long caudate. Cypselas laterally compressed, obovoid-oblong, densely brownish-sericeous, ribbed, transversely rugose with a bony apical rim, lateral detachment area large, surrounded by a whitish, swollen margin, with an elaiosome. Pappus biseriate, scales linear-subulate, persistent, usually shorter than cypselas.
The species recognition in this genus is controversial. Rech. f. (l. c.) and Bremer (l.c.) recognise 6 species, distributed in East Europe, South West Asia and Central Asia while Susana & Garcia–Jacas (l.c.) adopting a broader concept of the species consider it as monospecific. The present author following Rech. f. and Bremer recognises occurrence of two species in our area.