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

General:
Perennial herb from a fibrous root; stems erect, solitary to several, branched above, glabrous, 0.3-1 m tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves thickish, somewhat succulent, elliptic or broadly oblanceolate, stalked, sharply toothed, 12-35 cm long including the stalks, 2-7 cm wide, glabrous; stem leaves similar, progressively reduced upwards, becoming unstalked and lanceolate.

Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers, several in an open or clustered inflorescence; involucres 5-10 mm tall; involucral bracts lanceolate, with long-pointed, conspicuously black tips; bracteoles few, black-tipped; ray flowers yellow, 1-8 or sometimes lacking, 5-10 mm long; disk flowers yellow.

Fruits:
Achenes oblong, nerved, glabrous; pappus of white hairlike bristles.

Notes:
The two weak varieties previously recognized by Douglas (1982) and Douglas et al. (1989) and others have recently been merged by Barkley (1994). The latter treatment has been followed here.