Perenni­als, (30-)40-80 cm (rhizomes stout). Herbage tomentose, unevenly glabrescent. Stems single. Leaves reduced distally; petiolate; blades oblanceolate to elliptic, 4-12× 1-4 cm, bases tapered, margins weakly dentate or denticulate (denticles callous; mid leaves similar, smaller; distal leaves bractlike). Heads (3-)5-24 in corymbiform arrays. Calyculi of 1-5 bractlets (longest 2-3 mm). Phyllaries (± 13) ± 21, 3-7 mm, tips black or brownish. Ray florets ± 13; corolla laminae 6-10 mm. Cypselae usually hairy, sometimes glabrous. 2n = 40.

Flowering spring-early summer. Open meadows, especially in coniferous associations; 1000-1800 m; Idaho, Mont., Nev., Oreg., Utah, Wyo.