Plants 3–10 dm tall; flowering stems fistulose; leaves basal, the petioles 1–7 cm long, usually floccose,the blades cordate to reniform or nearly orbiculate, 1–2.5 (4) cm long, 2–4 (5) cm wide, densely white- tomentose abaxially, less so to floccose or subglabrous and grayish to greenish adaxially, the margins entire; inflorescences cymose, open to diffuse, flat-topped, spreading, hemispheric or narrowly erect and strict with whiplike branches, 10–90 (180) cm long, 5–50 cm wide, the branches glabrous, occasionally glaucous, the bracts 3, scalelike, 1–3 mm long, 0.5–1.5 mm wide;peduncles deflexed, (0.3) 0.5–1.5 cm long; involucres narrowly turbinate to turbinate, 1.5–2.5 (3) mm long, 1–2.5 mm wide, glabrous, the teeth 5, erect, (0.2) 0.5–1 mm long; flowers 2–2.5 mm long, the perianth white to pink, with greenish to reddish midribs, becoming pinkish to reddish, glabrous, the tepals dimorphic, the outer tepals cordate, the stamens included, 1–1.5 mm long, the filaments glabrous or sparsely pilose proximally; achenes brown to dark brown, trigonous, (1.5) 2–3 mm long, glabrous. 2n = 40.