General:
Perennial herb from a taproot and a simple or branching base; stems leafless, 1-several, exuding milky juice when broken, 10-60 cm tall.

Leaves:
All basal, extremely variable, narrowly linear-lanceolate to broadly oblanceolate, entire to laciniate or few lobed, 5-35 cm long, 1-30 mm wide, rounded to long-pointed, usually glabrate with sparse hairs along the midrib below, margins usually fringed with small hairs toward the base, the stalks purplish.

Flowers:
Heads with strap-shaped flowers, solitary; involucres top-shaped to narrowly bell-shaped; involucral bracts in about 3 series, slightly or not at all graduated, narrow, long-pointed, the outer series fringed with small hairs, usually glabrous or sometimes long-hairy on the surface; receptacles naked; ray flowers burnt orange, rarely yellow, commonly turning deep pink to purple in drying or with age.

Fruits:
Achenes smooth, 5-9 mm long, rather abruptly narrowed to a beak, which varies from about half to slightly longer than the body; pappus of numerous hairlike bristles, 9-14 mm long, silky white or sordid.

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