Herbs, perennial, or subshrubs, arachnoid pubescent or partly glabrescent; flowering stems 5-50 cm tall; root solitary; upper parts with spreading branches. Lower leaves 3-7 cm overall: petiole long; leaf blade ovate-oblong or elliptic-lanceolate, 30-40 × 5-20 mm, (1 or)2-pinnatisect; segments 4 or 5 pairs; lobules narrowly linear, 3-5 × 0.3-0.8 mm. Middle stem leaves 1- or 2-pinnatisect. Upper leaves pinnatisect; leaflike bracts linear, entire, rarely pinnatisect. Synflorescence a somewhat broad to slender, cylindric panicle. Capitula remote or grouped along branches, sessile. Involucre cylindric or ovoid-cylindric, 1.5-2 mm in diam.; phyllaries densely arachnoid pubescent, later sparsely pubescent or glabrescent. Florets 3-6; corolla purple-pink or yellow. Achenes obovoid. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct.

Desert or semidesert steppes, Gobi Desert, rocky slopes, dry canyons, dry riverbanks, roadsides, terraces, saline-alkaline soils; low elevations to 1500 m. NW Gansu, W Nei Mongol, Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia].