Herbs 8-50 cm tall, perennial. Stems solitary or few, 1-2 mm in diam., erect, simple. Basal and lower stem leaves petiolate; leaf blade narrowly elliptic, 3-15 × 0.8-2.3 cm, both surfaces green and sparsely villous but glabrescent, margin denticulate, apex acute. Middle and upper stem leaves sessile, narrowly elliptic to linear, 2.8-7.7 × 0.6-1.1 cm, base semiamplexicaul. Uppermost stem leaves sessile, narrowly ovate to linear and boat-shaped, 1.4-3 × 0.2-0.8 cm, not enclosing synflorescence, both surfaces purplish, margin entire, apex acuminate. Capitula 1-3(-6), solitary or in a corymbiform synflorescence, pedunculate. Involucre campanulate to obconic, 1-1.5 cm in diam. Phyllaries in 4 or 5 rows, straw-colored to purple and with a dark margin, sparsely pilose, glabrescent, apex obtuse; outer phyllaries triangular-ovate, 5-6 × 2.5-4 mm; middle phyllaries narrowly ovate, 6.5-12 × 2-3 mm; inner phyllaries linear, 12-16 × 1-2 mm. Receptacle bristles 5-6 mm. Corolla purple, 1.3-1.8 cm, tube 7-9 mm, limb 5.5-9 mm, lobes 3-4 mm. Achene cylindric, ca. 3 mm. Pappus dirty white; outer bristles 1-3 mm; inner bristles 1.2-1.3 cm. Fl. and fr. Jul-Oct. 2n = 32*.

● Grasslands; 1900-4000 m. Gansu, W Henan, Qinghai, Shaanxi.