General:
Perennial herb from a fibrous-rooted, woody stem-base or rhizome; stems erect, solitary or few, branched above, glabrous to sparsely short-hairy above, 0.2-1.5 m tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves triangular to heart-shaped, squared-off at the base; strongly toothed, stalked, 2.5-10 cm long including the stalks, 0.4-4.5 cm wide, hairless except for short hairs on the veins beneath, sometimes deciduous by flowering time; stem leaves similar, larger, 2.5-25 cm long, 0.4-8.5 cm wide, gradually reduced upwards, becoming unstalked.

Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers, few to more often numerous on sparsely hairy stalks in a short, flat-topped inflorescence; involucres 7-12 mm tall; involucral bracts lanceolate, conspicuously black-tipped, sometimes also sparsely hairy or rarely with inconspicuous unstalked glands at the tips; bracteoles conspicuous, black-tipped, hairy; ray fowers yellow, mostly 7-14 mm long; disk flowers yellow.

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

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia