Plants to 150 cm. Cauline leaves usually deeply lobed, spines usually 7–20 mm. Heads mostly 2.5–3.5 cm. 2n = 34.

Flowering summer (Jun–Aug). Springs, seeps, streamsides, coastal bluffs, coniferous and hardwood forests, often on serpentine; 10–1200 m; Calif.

Variety douglasii grows in the Coast Ranges from Humboldt to Monterey and San Benito counties.