Cnicus esculentus Sievers, Neueste Nord. Beytr. Phys. Geogr. Erd- Volkerbeschreib. 3: 362. 1796; Cirsium acaule Ledebour var. gmelinii (Sprengel) C. A. Meyer; C. acaule var. sibiricum Ledebour; C. esculentum var. acaule C. A. Meyer; C. gmelinii (Sprengel) Tausch; Cnicus gmelinii Sprengel.

Herbs, stemless, perennial. All leaves basal, rosulate, concolorous, green, surface smooth with dense to sparse long multicellular hairs; petiole with entire, continuous wings; leaf blade oblanceolate or ± narrowly elliptic, 6-21 × 2.5-7 cm, pinnately divided; segments 4-7 pairs, basal ones usually reduced to spines, others obliquely ovate, elliptic, or semiorbicular, margin with 2-4 mm spinules and teeth tipped with spines to 1 cm; terminal segment largest. Capitula 5-9, in basal cluster. Involucre campanulate, 2.5-3 cm in diam., glabrous. Phyllaries imbricate, in ca. 6 rows, lacking marginal spinules, wings, and scarious appendage; outer and middle phyllaries ovate to lanceolate, 10-20 × 2-4 mm, apex acute and tipped with a spinule to 0.5 mm; inner phyllaries linear-lanceolate to linear, 2.5-3 × 0.2-0.3 cm, apex acuminate and scarious. Florets bisexual. Corolla purple, ca. 2.7 cm, tube ca. 1.5 cm. Achene yellowish, ca. 5 mm. Pappus bristles white or dirty white, ca. 2.7 cm. Fl. and fr. Aug-Sep. 2n = 34.

Moist places, by water in plains or on hilly areas; 500-3200 m. Hebei, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, N and NW Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Uzbekistan].