Plants 25-50 cm. Leaves: petioles narrowly winged; blades obovate, 2.5-8 cm wide, margins remotely toothed, pinnately lobed, or entire (teeth not prominently white-tipped, apices obtuse), faces glabrous or glandular-hispid. Heads 10-30. Involucres 8-12 mm. Phyllaries lanceolate, apices acute, faces strongly or finely glandular-hispid. Cypselae brown, 3.5-5 mm, not beaked; pappi 4-8 mm. 2n = 22.

Flowering Jun-Jul. Dry or moist alkaline meadows; 1300-2500 m; Alta., Sask.; Colo., Idaho, Mont., N.Dak., Oreg., Utah, Wash., Wyo.

Subspecies hispidulosa is distinguished by its relatively large, obtuse leaves and relatively numerous heads with glandular-hispid phyllaries.