 | perennial from deep roots; NOT biennial |
 | plants WITHOUT creeping rootstocks |
 | plants always with stems |
 | leaves white woolly beneath; NOT green
on both sides when mature |
 | leaves pale green or gray, somewhat
woolly above; leaves NOT [deep green and bristly on upper sides] |
 | upper surface of leaves NOT scabrous |
 | occasionally some lower leaves entire
margined |
 | cauline leaves deeply pinnatifid lobed;
NOT subentire to shallowly lobed |
 | leaf lobes generally less than 7 mm
wide |
 | flowering heads overtopping the
foliage; NOT exceeded by the foliage |
 | heads more than 2.5 cm high |
 | heads less than 5 cm high |
 | involucres more than 2 cm high |
 | involucres rarely over 2.5 cm high |
 | involucres usually more than 12 mm wide |
 | bracts of involucre progressively
longer from outer to inner, NOT more or less equal |
 | bracts of involucre only slightly, if
at all, cobwebby; involucre NOT densely arachnoid |
 | bracts with spiny tips |
 | inner bracts of involucre WITHOUT
[loose, twisted, and spineless tips] |
 | outer bracts of involucre glandular;
NOT eglandular |
 | outer bracts of involucre more than 2
mm wide at base |
 | male and female florets on the same
plant or flower head; NOT on separate plants |
 | corollas deep purple (rarely white);
NOT light purple |
 | achenes up to 5 mm long; NOT more than
5 mm long |
 | pappus of mature fruit shorter than
corolla |