Herbs 50-90 cm tall, perennial. Stems erect, freely branched, glabrous; wings with spiny teeth. Leaves thinly papery, sparsely cobwebby. Basal and lower cauline leaves sessile, lanceolate to elliptic, ca. 12 × 4 cm, bipinnatipartite; ultimate lobes triangular to narrowly ovate, margin entire, apex with a 1-1.5 mm spine. Middle cauline leaves similar or pinnatipartite; upper cauline leaves gradually smaller upward, pinnately lobed or toothed. Capitula many, corymbose to paniculate. Involucre ovoid, 6-9 mm in diam., sparsely cobwebby. Phyllaries in ca. 9 rows; outer and middle phyllaries ± narrowly lanceolate, 4-7 × ca. 1 mm, apex narrowed into a patent or ± recurved 1.5-3 mm spine; inner phyllaries lanceolate-elliptic, 8-10 × 1-1.5 mm, apex narrowed into a spine ca. 3 mm. Corolla yellow, ca. 8 mm. Mature achene unknown. Pappus short. Fl. Jul.

Slopes, sandy places; 500-700 m. Xinjiang (Tian Shan part of Junggar Pendi) [Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan].