Plants subshrubs, spreading, not scapose, 2.5–4 dm tall, 3–5 dm across, tomentose, greenish; stems spreading, often with persistent leaf bases, up to 1⁄4 or more height of plant, the caudex stems somewhat matted, the aerial flowering stems erect or nearly so, somewhat stout, solid, not fistulose, 0.5–1.5 dm long, tomentose; leaves cauline and sheathing proximal 1⁄3 of stem, 1 per node, the petioles 0.5–1 (1.8) cm long, tomentose, the blades linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, 3.5–7 (9) cm long, 0.3–0.6 (0.8) cm wide, densely white-tomentose abaxially, less so and greenish adaxially, the margins plane and slightly revolute, rarely crenulate; inflorescences cymose, open, 3–8 cm long, 3–10 cm wide, the branches dichotomous, tomentose, the bracts 3, scalelike, triangular, and 2–3 mm long, or leaflike, 1–2 cm long, and similar to leaf blades; peduncles absent; involucres 1 per node or 2–3 per cluster, turbinate, 3.5–4 mm long, 2.5–3 mm wide, the teeth 5–6, erect, 0.5–1 mm long; flowers (3) 3.5–4 (4.5) mm long, the perianth white, glabrous, the hypanthium 1⁄4 length of perianth, the tepals slightly dimorphic, those of outer whorl spatulate, 1.3–1.7 (2) mm wide, those of inner whorl oblanceolate, 0.6–0.9 (1.2) mm wide, the stamens included, 2–3 (3.5) mm long, the filaments pilose proximally; achenes brown, 2.5–3 mm long, glabrous except for slightly papillate beaks. Continue reading →