Cauline leaves 30-90 × 2-6 mm, reduced distally. Involucres 8-12 mm. Phyllary faces sparsely to moderately sericeous, sometimes sparsely stipitate-glandular distally. Ray florets 10-16; laminae 7-15. Disc florets 30-40; corollas 6.5-8.5 mm, lobes 0.6-0.8 mm, throats and lobes glabrous or proximal throats sparsely short-pilose. 2n = 36.

Flowering late summer-fall (to Dec; rarely spring, Fla.). Sandy soils, margins of pine woods and scrub, roadsides; 0-600 m; Ala., Ark., Del., Fla., Ga., Ky., La., Md., Miss., N.C., Ohio, S.C., Tenn., Tex., Va.; Mexico; West Indies (Bahamas); Central America (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras).

Variety latifolia is the most variable variety, particularly in leaf size, and involucre and stem heights.