Herbs to 30 cm tall, biennial. Stems purplish red, tufted, erect, unbranched, unwinged, densely fluffily cobwebby. Leaves papery, ± concolorous, grayish green, sparsely cobwebby. Basal leaves with petiole ca. 6 cm; leaf blade elliptic, ca. 12 × 6 cm, pinnatifid or pinnatipartite; segments 5 or 6 pairs, broadly ovate, margin with 3-7 unequal teeth with 3-6 mm lateral spines, apical spine to 1 cm. Cauline leaves similar to basal leaves but sessile; upper cauline leaves lanceolate, smaller. Capitulum 1. Involucre broadly campanulate, 4-4.5 cm in diam., fluffily cobwebby. Phyllaries in 6 or 7 rows; outer and middle phyllaries elliptic-subulate to lanceolate-subulate, 1.8-3.3 × 0.3-0.4 cm, rigid, leathery, with a medial abaxial ridge, apex narrowed into a rigid triquetrous spine; inner and innermost phyllaries oblanceolate to broadly linear, ca. 2.3 × 0.2-0.3 cm, rigid, apex scarious, yellowish, and slightly expanded. Corolla purplish red, ca. 2 cm, tube ca. 1.2 cm. Achene pale, obliquely obovoid, ca. 5 mm, darkly striate. Pappus absent. Fl. and fr. Jul.

● Mountain slopes; ca. 3200 m. W Xinjiang (Wuqia).