General:
Annual herb from a taproot; stems erect, branched, loosely hairy, 0.2-1.2 m tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves linear to lanceolate, entire or with a few teeth and narrow lobes towards the base, white-woolly below, up to 13 cm long and 1 cm wide, soon deciduous; stem leaves similar, reduced and narrower upwards.

Flowers:
Heads discoid, several to many, solitary at the ends of ascending branches; disk flowers usually blue, sometimes purple, pink or white, the sterile marginal ones about 18 mm long, enlarged apically with 5 lobes, the central ones perfect and about 15 mm long; involucres 20-25 mm tall, 12-15 mm wide; involucral bracts egg-shaped or lanceolate, grooved, with a darkened, tattered fringe at the tips, glabrous.

Fruits:
Achenes compressed, with appressed, soft hairs, 3.5-4 mm long; pappus of numerous, strongly graduated brown bristles.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Leucacantha cyanus (L.) Nieuwl. & Lunell