Leaves: basal and proximal cauline 4–10(–20) mm wide (cauline usually gradually reduced in size distally). Heads in dense to loose, spiciform arrays. Involucres (7–)8–11 mm. Phyllaries usually greenish. Florets (4–)6–8(–12). 2n = 20.

Flowering Jul–Sep. Fields, road banks, fencerows, lake sides, wet to moist prairies and meadows, bogs, seepages, dunes, limestone and granite outcrops, sandy clays, sandy loams, moist woods, oak, oak-pine, and sweetgum flats, tamarack swamps; 50–1700 m; Ont., Que.; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., Ga., Ill., Ind., Ky., Md., Mass., Mich., Miss., Mo., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., Tenn., Va., W.Va., Wis.