E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial herb from a deep taproot; stems much branched, glabrous to stiff-hairy, 0.3-2.0 m tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves oblanceolate, stalked, toothed or more often pinnately cut, 8-25 cm long, 1-7 cm wide; stem leaves becoming reduced, unstalked, and entire or toothed upwards.

Flowers:
Heads with strap-shaped flowers, borne 1-3 together in upper leaf axils; involucres cylindric, 9-15 mm tall; involucral bracts in 2 series, the outer ones loose, fewer than the erect inner ones and at least half as long; ray flowers blue, rarely pink or white; disk flowers lacking.

Fruits:
Achenes glabrous, grooved, 5-angled, beakless, 2-3 mm long; pappus of 1-3 series of small scales.