Annual, divaricately branched herb with denticulate-spiny, white tomentose, leathery, prominently veined leaves. Capitula homogamous, discoid, ovate-subglobose, solitaty, subtended by a foliaceous involucel. Phyllaries multiseriate, outer dentate-spiny on margins, floccose; inner oblong, ± entire; innermost terminating in a dark purple spine. Receptacle flat, beset with basally ± connate, fimbriate bristles. Florets purple. Corolla tube short, limb 5-fid. Anthers plumose caudate below, on free, glabrous filaments. Stigmas linear, with a ring of hairs at junction with style. Cypselas oblong-obconical, silky hairy, hilum basal, apical rim inconspicuous. Pappus uniseriate, bristles stout, plumose, basally dilated and connate below into a ring.

Species 2-3­­­­­, distributed in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan and Kazakhistan. Represented in our area by the following species.