Stems 1-several from the base, 0.5-4 dm; lvs linear or lance-linear, 1-2 cm נ1-3 mm, erect or nearly so; stem terminating by a sessile dense cluster of heads, this usually subtended by several leafy branches terminating in similar clusters, and these often again proliferous; heads 3.5-4.5 mm; woolly only toward the base, proper involucral bracts few or none, when present resembling the bracts of the receptacle, these largely hyaline-scarious and shining, with a firmer, darker central portion, each tipped by a conspicuous, short, often somewhat spreading bristle; receptacle shortly cylindric-obconic; inner pistillate flowers ca 20-25; disk (perfect) fls 2-3; 2n=28. Native of Europe, intr. in disturbed sites from N.Y. and O. s. May-Sept. (F. vulgaris; Gifola g.) Wagenitz's argument that the species should be called F. vulgaris is here rejected.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.