Flora of North America species comparison

erect, densely and loosely gray-white tomentose-arachnose.

erect to ascending, densely gray-white pannose.

basal and cauline, basal mostly withering before flowering, blades oblanceolate, 1–3 cm × 2–6 mm (usually folded along midveins, bases subclasping, not auriculate; nearly unreduced among proximal heads, none longer than glomerules), faces concolor, tomentose-arachnose.

basal and cauline, basal usually withering before flowering;

blades linear to narrowly oblanceolate (often folded along midveins), 1–4 cm × 1–3(–5) mm (distally becoming ± patent, arcuate bracts surpassing the heads), faces concolor or weakly bicolor, pannose-tomentose (± equally grayish to whitish, basal cells of hairs on adaxial faces persistent, expanded, glassy).

campanulate, 3.5–4 mm, bases sparsely tomentose.

cylindro-campanulate, 3.5–4(–5) mm, sparsely arachnose.

bisexual 2–4; all corollas yellowish.

bisexual 3–5; all corollas usually purplish distally.

in 4–5 series, outer narrowly ovate-triangular, lengths ca. 1/3 inner, apices acute to acute-acuminate, inner oblong, laminae tan to brownish (not purple), apices (brownish) rounded-apiculate.

in (3–)4–5 series, outer triangular, lengths 1/3–1/2 inner, apices (brown) acute-acuminate (usually inrolled and spreading or recurved), inner triangular-lanceolate, laminae purplish (in bud) to whitish or silvery (in fruit), apices (usually striate) acute (not apiculate).

in continuous cylindric arrays 2–3(–4) cm × 10–12 mm (pressed).

in terminal glomerules 1 cm or in interrupted, spiciform arrays 2–14 cm × 10–12(–14) mm (pressed; glomerules sometimes axillary).

not seen.

(tan) 0.5–0.6 mm.