Plant: Annual or perennial herb < 15 dm, from taproot Leaves: generally alternate, ± long-petioled; blade lanceolate to ovate, wedge-shaped to ± cordate at base, obtuse to acute, densely canescent to long-silky INFLORESCENCE: primary inflorescence a head, each resembling a flower; heads 1-few; involucre 8-28 mm diam; phyllaries 8-12 mm, ± lanceolate, acute, canescent to soft-hairy, ± = disk; chaff scales 10-11 mm, entire to deeply 3-lobed Flowers: Ray flowers 13-21, sterile; ligules 12-25 mm, yellow; Disk flowers: many; corollas 5-7 mm, yellow to red or purple, tube short, throat base often swollen, lobes triangular; style appendages triangular Fruit: 3-8 mm, oblanceolate to obovate, ± compressed; sides rounded; pappus scales 2-3 mm (generally also several shorter scales) Misc: Open, sandy places; generally < 300 m.