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

General:
Perennial herb from a fibrous-rooted, usually short rhizome or woody stem-base; stems erect, branched above, glabrous or nearly so, 0.4-1.2 m tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves stalked and soon deciduous; stem leaves lanceolate to broadly lanceolate or egg-shaped, unstalked and usually clasping, 8-18 cm long, 1-3.5 cm wide, entire or shallowly toothed, glabrous or nearly so and tending to be glaucous.

Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers, few to many in an open, round-topped inflorescence; involucres 5-7 mm tall; involucral bracts graduated, linear or often awl-shaped, sharply pointed with elongate green tips, margins fringed with small hairs; ray flowers 15-30, blue or purple, 6-10 mm long; disk flowers yellow.

Fruits:
Achenes 4-5 nerved, glabrous; pappus usually reddish.