Suffrutescent shrub from a branching, subterranean caudex; above ground stems somewhat woody but not perennial, 4-8 dm tall, usually glandular in the inflorescence; leaves sessile, 3-5 cm long, oblong to oblong-ovate, rigid, thick, spiny-toothed on the margins; flower heads solitary at the tips of short branches, about 10 mm high; outer involucral bracts leaf-like, inner bracts spine-tipped or merely sharp-pointed, in 2-3 series; ray flowers violet-purple; disk flowers yellow; pappus of numerous stiff bristles; achenes glabrous. Flowers July to October.