Flora of North America species comparison

1–several, erect, simple or sparingly branched, villous with septate hairs and thinly arachnoid-tomentose with long, simple hairs.

usually 1, erect, ± openly branched distally, loosely tomentose.

thinly villous and ± tomentose, glabrate;

proximal leaves winged-petiolate, blades 10–30 cm, margins entire or remotely dentate to pinnately lobed;

mid and distal leaves sessile, blades decurrent, ovate to oblong or lanceolate, entire or remotely denticulate.

± loosely gray-tomentose;

basal leaf blades linear-lanceolate, 3–10 cm, margins entire or with remote linear lobes, apices acute;

cauline linear, usually not much smaller except among heads, usually entire.

ovoid to ± campanulate, 20–25 mm.

campanulate, 12–16 mm.

35–60+;

sterile florets 10–20, corollas blue (white, purple, or pink), 2.5–4.5 cm, corolla tube elongate.

25–35;

corollas blue (white to purple), those of sterile florets raylike, enlarged, 20–25 mm, those of fertile florets 10–15 mm.

25–40+;

corollas purple, ca. 20 mm;

anthers dark blue-purple.

bodies green, ovate (outer) to oblong (inner), tomentose or becoming glabrous, margins and erect appendages white to dark brown or black, scarious, fringed with slender teeth ± 1 mm.

radiant, borne singly or in few-headed corymbiform arrays; (peduncles to 7 cm).

radiant, in open, rounded or ± flat-topped cymiform arrays, pedunculate.

± brown, 5–6 mm, sericeous;

pappi of bristles 0.5–1.5 mm.

stramineous or pale blue, 4–5 mm, finely hairy;

pappi of many unequal stiff bristles, 2–4 mm.

phyllaries: bodies greenish, ovate to lanceolate, scarious-margined, appendages appressed, brown to black, unarmed, decurrent on phyllary margins, pectinate-fringed, puberulent;

innermost phyllaries sometimes unappendaged.

= 24 (Germany), 40 (Russia), 44 (France).

= 24 (Russia).