Herbs, perennial, 7-28 cm tall, caespitose; rhizome short, branched. Stems usually several, erect, simple, 1-3 mm in diam. at base, sparsely villous, more densely so in upper part, also strigillose, eglandular, densely leafy. Leaves petiolate, villous, abaxially or sometimes both surfaces sparsely villous on veins, margin entire, villous-ciliate; basal leaves dense, present at anthesis, blade obovate or oblanceolate, 1.2-12 × 0.3-1.4 cm, base attenuate, apex obtuse or acute, mucronate; lower cauline shortly petiolate, blade oblanceolate, mid and upper sessile, blade lanceolate, 0.8-7 × 0.1-0.8 cm, base cuneate, subclasping, apex acute or acuminate. Capitula solitary, 1.1-1.8 × 2.4-4 cm. Involucre hemispheric; phyllaries green or tip purplish, lanceolate, 6.5-8 × 0.7-1 mm, often exceeding disk florets, apex acute, outer slightly shorter, densely villous to lanate, eglandular. Ray florets 3-seriate, lilac, 9-13 mm, tube 2.5-3 mm, sparsely hairy, lamina flat, ca. 1.3 mm wide; disk florets yellow, 3.5-4.5 mm, tube 0.8-1 mm, limb cylindric-funnelform, hairy, lobes lanceolate, ca. 0.8 mm, glabrous. Achenes (immature) densely strigose to silky. Pappus 2-seriate, outer bristles short, inner 2.5-5 mm (immature). Fl. Jun-Sep.

Abies forests, subalpine meadows; ca. 2800 m. N Xinjiang (Ürümqi) [Kazakhstan].