General:
Perennial herb from a taproot and short-branched stem-base; stems erect, simple or occasionally branched in larger forms, solitary, sparsely to densely stiff-hairy, obscurely to moderately glandular, 3-30 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves linear-oblanceolate to spoon-shaped, hairy and glandular like the stems, long-stalked, 1-8 cm long, 1-12 mm wide; stem leaves similar, few, mostly linear, somewhat reduced upwards.

Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers, solitary or occasionally several in larger forms, the disks 9-20 mm wide; involucres 5-9 mm tall; involucral bracts sparsely to densely stiff-hairy with long, white hairs, obscurely to conspicuously glandular, more or less equal, green, sometimes with brown midveins and narrow, papery margins; ray flowers 15-45, pink or purple to deep blue or violet, 5-14 mm long, 1.3-3.6 mm wide, occasionally reduced and inconspicuous or lacking; disk flowers 4.0-6.5 mm long.

Fruits:
Achenes 2-nerved, densely, long, silky-hairy, these appressed or ascending and sometimes obscuring the outer pappus; pappus double, the inner of 20-30 firm bristles, the outer of well-developed short scales.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia