Perennial, shortly stemmed or stemless herb with branched or simple rootstock covered by petiolar remains of previous years. Stem when present erect, upto 6 cm tall,  densely whitish tomentose. Leaves  in rosette, sessile or on 1 – 2 cm long petiole,  broadly linear to narrowly oblong-elliptic, 3.6 – 8.5  cm long, 0.8 – 1.5 cm wide, runcinately-pinnatifid to pinnatipartite, densely arachnoid beneath, whitish tomentose above, lateral lobes 5 – 8 pairs, ± triangular-ovate, acute or mucronate at apices, terminal lobe narrowly deltoid, acuminate to caudate. Capitula solitary, ± sessile. Involucre campanulate, 1.5 – 3 cm  in diameter. Phyllaries 3-6-seriate, purplish-red, sparsely to densely hairy, apically acuminate; outer ones narrowly triangular-ovate, 11 – 12 mm long, 3 – 4 mm broad; median phyllaries narrowly ovate-elliptic, 12 – 17 mm long, 3 – 4 mm broad. Receptacular bristles 3 – 4 mm long. Corolla purplish-blue, 18 – 20 mm long, tube 10 – 12 mm long, limb 9 – 10 mm long, lobes ca 5 mm long. Cypselas cylindrical, 2.5 – 4 mm long, ribbed, glabrous, brown. Pappus yellowish-brown, outer bristles 1 – 4 mm long, rough, inner bristles 14 – 15 mm long.