General:
Annual, biennial or short-lived perennial herb from a taproot; stems erect, branched, sparsely hairy, 10-60 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves pinnately divided into linear segments, broadly lanceolate in outline, 3.5-20 cm long, 0.5-3.5 cm wide, grey-green, lightly dense-hairy, soon deciduous; stem leaves similar, reduced upwards.

Flowers:
Heads discoid, numerous, solitary at the end of diffuse branches; disk flowers usually creamish, sometimes purplish or pinkish; involucres 8-10 mm tall; involucral bracts broadly lanceolate, leathery, glabrous, with weak spines on the margins, the tips with 1.5-4 mm long spines.

Fruits:
Achenes glabrous; pappus lacking or of minute bristles up to 1 mm long.

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

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Acosta diffusa (Lam.) Soják