Herbs, perennial, 20-40 cm tall; rhizomes stout, stoloniferous. Stems erect, simple, sparsely or moderately hirsute, with sessile glands above, with marcescent leaf remains at base. Leaves basal and cauline, cauline leaves reduced upward, densely to moderately strigose, sometimes upper leaves glandular, midvein abaxially somewhat prominent, triplinerved, veins inconspicuous; basal leaves usually persistent, broadly winged petiolate; blade spatulate to oblanceolate, ca. 2.5 × 0.6-1 cm, base attenuate, margin entire or sparsely serrulate, densely strigose-ciliate, apex obtuse or rounded; middle leaves oblong to oblanceolate, 2-3.5 × 0.4-0.7 cm, base subclasping; upper leaves small, apex acute. Capitula terminal, solitary, 4-5 cm in diam. Involucres hemispheric, 0.6-0.7 × 1.5-1.7(-2) cm; phyllaries 3-seriate, spatulate-oblong to oblong or linear, 9-10 × 1.5-2.5 mm, abaxially sparsely strigose, leaflike, margin strigose-ciliate, inner phyllaries with margin scarious, erose-fimbriate, purplish, apex acute or obtuse, purplish. Ray florets 30-40, blue or purplish, tube 2-2.2 mm, hairy; disk florets yellow, 3.5-5 mm, tube ca. 1.3 mm, distal tube and limb base hairy, limb narrowly funnelform, lobes lanceolate, 1.2-1.5 mm, often purple. Achenes brown, obovoid, compressed, ca. 3 mm, densely strigose, sparsely glandular apically, 2-ribbed. Pappus reddish or buff, 3-seriate, bristles barbellate above; outermost bristles ca. 0.9 mm; inner bristles ca. 4.7 mm, acute; innermost bristles 5.1-5.5 mm (reaching base of disk corolla lobes), ± clavate. Fl. Jul-Aug.

Open grassy slopes, field margins, sometimes among dwarf shrubs; 3000-4000 m. S Xizang [Bhutan, India (Sikkim), Nepal].