Plants to 120 cm (roots fusiform to elongate-turbinate, branched). Herbage sparsely to densely hairy (hairs spreading, to 1.5 mm) or glabrate. Stems mostly green to purplish. Basal leaves: petioles 4-12 cm; blades (1-) or 3-nerved, elliptic to lanceolate, 8-30 × 1-3 cm, bases attenuate, margins entire (usually ciliate). Peduncles 20-50+ cm. Phyllaries lanceolate to ovate, 7-12 × 1-4 mm. Receptacles: paleae 8-11 mm, tips purple, slightly curved, usually rounded. Ray corollas pink to reddish purple, laminae reflexed, 40-70 × 3-4 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy abaxially. Discs subspheric, 15-30 × 20-30 mm. Disc corollas 5.5-6.7 mm, lobes usually purple. Cypselae tan to bicolored (with distal dark brown band), 2.5-5 mm, faces ± tuberculate, glabrous; pappi to ca. 1 mm (major teeth 0-4). 2n = 22.

Flowering late spring-early summer. Sandy, open, pine woods, prairies; 0-200 m; Ark., La., Okla., Tex.