Small shrubs or woody perennials, mostly white tomentose, rarely totally glabrous. Leaves simple, alternate, undulate or dentate, usually with revolute margins. Capitula single, rarely few at the end of the branches, heterogamous, disciform; Phyllaries pluriseriate, imbricate, scarious at the margins and the apex, rarely scarious as a whole, never brightly coloured. Receptacle flat, without scales. Florets mostly yellow, rarely red or purple. Outer florets female, filiform, usually more in number than the inner bisexual flowers. Corolla 3-5 toothed at the apex usually hairy at the apex. Bisexual flowers infundibuliform, 5-lobed, lobes ± recurved, usually hairy outside, ± papillose inside at the tips. Anthers mostly ecauadate, rarely short caudate at the base (not in our species). Style branches ± rounded, papillose. Cypselas ovoid, obovoid or oblong-hairy; Pappus setae 5-10 (in P. bicolor –13), uniseriate, ± scabrous, deciduous.