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

General:
Perennial herb from a taproot; stems erect, branched, lightly cobwebby, 0.3-1.5 m tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves egg-shaped in outline, deeply and irregularly pinnately segmented, the segments narrowly elliptic-lanceolate; stem leaves broader, reduced upwards.

Flowers:
Heads discoid, few to several on ascending branches; involucres 15-20 mm tall, nearly as wide; involucral bracts egg-shaped to more lanceolate with a black or dark brown fringe at the tips, these about 1 mm long and often curled; disk flowers purple, rarely white or yellow, the sterile marginal ones about 40 mm long with lobes 10 mm long.

Fruits:
Achenes light brown, 4-5 mm long; pappus light brown, about 4 mm long.