Herbaceous perennial; stems erect, strict, to 60 cm tall, from a basal rosette, pubescent with small, retrorsely barbed hairs and long barbed hairs with the tip acute and the base surrounded by support cells; rosette leaves and stem leaves pinnately lobed, rachis 2-3 mm wide, lobes usually opposite, 6-15 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, lower surface pubescent with stout, curved, pointed hairs, upper leaf surface green, sparsely pubescent with a few scattered pointed hairs; bracts linear or sometimes with a pair of long narrow lobes at base; flowers open in late afternoon; calyx lobes 5, 8-12 mm long, deltoid, acuminate, calyx tube 1.5-2 cm long; petals golden yellow, glabrous, in two whorls of five (inner whorl of 5 petaloid staminodes), ovate to lanceolate, outer whorl 25-45 mm long, 8-11 mm wide, inner whorl 22-34 mm long, 7-10 mm wide, apices acute or notched; fertile stamens numerous, all filaments filiform, outermost filaments 20-27 mm long, innermost 7-10 mm long, anthers 1 mm long; style 24-32 mm long; stigma 1.5 mm long, at anthesis 9-12 mm above the anthers; capsule cylindrical, 15-22 mm long, topped by the persistent calyx lobes; seeds lenticular, dark gray to black when mature, 2-2.8 mm long, wing narrow, to 0.1 mm wide. Flowers late July to early October.