An upright, 9 – 30 (– 45) cm tall, unbranched, white-floccose monocarpic perennial herb with simple rootstock. Stem  internodes  short, concealed from base upwards by dense cover of leaves, 1 – 1.5 cm in diameter, expanded towards top. Leaves concolorous, acute-acuminate; basal and lower leaves shortly petiolate, linear-oblong to narrowly lanceolate or narrowly obovate, (3–) 5 – 18 (–22) cm long, (2–) 4 – 15 (–20) mm wide, somewhat drooping or reflexed, sparsely pale white-woolly hairy to glabrous green on either side, dentate or shallowly runcinate-pinnatifid with mucronate teeth; median and upper stem leaves sessile, narrowly ovate-elliptic to linear, gradually smaller upwards. Capitula numerous, sessile, densely aggregated on flat, expanded stem apex in a (4.5–) 7–10 cm across hemispherical  synflorescence, hidden at anthesis in thick woolly indumentum. Involucre  campanulate, 12 – 15 mm long, 5 – 8 (–10) mm wide  densely arachnoid hairy. Phyllaries 3 – 5 (-6)-seriate, unequal in size, acute; outer ovate, 4 – 4.5  mm long, 2.5 – 3 mm wide, ± reflexed; median and inner phyllaries narrowly ovate-elliptic to linear-lanceolate, 6.5 – 8 mm long, 1.5 – 2.5 mm wide. Receptacle with ca 2 mm long bristles. Corolla purple to reddish-purple, 7 – 12 mm long,  tube 2 – 5.5 mm long, limb ± campanulate, 5 – 7 mm  long, with 1.5 – 2 mm long lobes. Cypselas cylindrical to narrowly obovoid, 3 – 4.5  mm long, brown, apically sparsely papillate or glabrous. Pappus biseriate, pale brown , outer bristles 4 – 5 mm long, inner ones 8 – 10 mm long.