Glabrous, taprooted annual or biennial. Stems erect, usually branched, 20–80 cm. Leaves cauline, opposite, petiolate; blades ovate, 2–10 cm long, 1 to 2 times deeply divided into 3 to 7 well-separated, long, linear to oblanceolate segments. Inflorescence open, corymbiform, linear-bracted; peduncles 1–10 cm long. Heads radiate; involucres campanulate; phyllaries ovate, dimorphic in 2 series; outer ca. 2 mm long; inner purplish, 5–9 mm long, striate; receptacle flat with scales between the flowers. Ray flowers sterile, 8, yellow; ligules 6–15 mm long with a dark base. Disk flowers perfect, purple to brown; corolla 2–3 mm long, 4-lobed, tube shorter than the throat; style branch appendages short, blunt. Pappus absent or inconspicuous. Achenes oblong, flattened, 1–3 mm long, glabrous (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
POLLINATORS The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap:
Bombus impatiens (Colla and Dumesh 2010).