Herbs, perennial, 15-50 cm tall, caespitose; rhizome erect or ascending. Stems several, sometimes solitary, erect, green or reddish, branched or rarely simple, sometimes glabrate in lower part, strigose, strigillose, especially on upper part, peduncles densely stipitate glandular. Leaves green, margin entire; basal rosulate, often withered at anthesis, long petiolate, blade oblanceolate or spatulate, 2-16 × 0.4-1.2 cm, base attenuate, apex rounded, mucronate; cauline 0.3-1.3 × 0.5-1 cm, lower winged petiolate, oblanceolate, base subclasping, upper sessile, blade lanceolate, apex acute. Capitula 2-5 in corymbiform synflorescences, or solitary, ca. 1.2 × 2.1-3.7 cm. Involucre hemispheric; phyllaries 3-seriate, green, subequal, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 6-9 × 0.5-0.75 mm, sparsely strigose (or not), densely stipitate glandular, apex acute, margin of inner scarious. Ray florets lilac, 10-12 mm, tube ca. 2.5 mm, hairy, lamina 0.5-1.2 mm wide, flat; disk florets yellow, 4-4.5 mm, tube 1-1.5 mm, hairy, limb cylindric-funnelform, lobes triangular, ca. 0.5 mm, glabrous. Achenes (immature) ± strigose. Pappus 2-seriate, outer bristles short, inner 3.5-4 mm (immature). Fl. Jun-Aug.

Subalpine meadows, grasslands; ca. 2500 m. N Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Russia (Siberia)].