Biennial or perennial, up to 60 cm high. Stem erect or decumbent, dichotomously and divaricately branching to loosely corymbose above. Root-leaves 3-12 cm long, 2-3 cm wide, rosetted, oblong to linear-spathulate in outline, runcinate, deeply lobed into tringular, or ovate, obtuse or acute, cartilaginous toothed lobes; cauline-leaves few, smaller at the forks only. Heads lateral and terminal, cylindrical, few flowerd, yellow, on short peduncles. Involucral bracts herbaceous, cylindrical, 1-1.5 cm long in fruit, with broad wide margins; the lower triangular with minute, soathulate-dilated tip. Achenes 3-5 mm long, of two basic types: either columnar-subtetragonal, of 4 rounded, obtuse-margined ribs, pale, smoothly wrinkled, truncate at the tip, or: compressed, darker and rougher, tuberculate, hispidulous. Pappus of subequal, white hairs persistent, 7-9 mm long.