Rhizomatous; stem 1-6 dm, harshly puberulent with faintly viscidulous hairs; lvs all cauline, 40-75+ below the infl, firm, scabrous above, Ā±puberulent beneath at least along the main veins (and sometimes also glandular), linear or lance-linear to elliptic or oblong, acute or obtuse, entire or nearly so, the margins commonly revolute, sessile, 12-50 × 2-12 mm; heads conspicuously slender-pedunculate, solitary or several in a minutely bracteate corymbiform infl; invol 5-7.5 mm, its usually thin bracts well imbricate, sharply pointed, purplish-tinged or faintly greenish, but scarcely herbaceous, viscidulous-puberulent or subglabrous; rays 13-27, broad, pink or lilac-purple, 9-15 mm; achenes glandular; 2n=18. Sphagnum-bogs; Nf. and s. Lab. to James Bay, s. to N.J., N.Y., and n. Mich.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.