Rhizomatous perennial. Stems erect, simple or branched, 10–50 cm. Herbage strigose, sometimes glandular. Leaves opposite below; blade ovate, 2–8 cm long, once pinnatifid into dentate lobes. Female heads 1-flowered. Male heads cup-shape, 2–3 mm wide, hispid, glandular with 5 to 15 florets, spreading on peduncles up to 1 mm long. Bur 2–3 mm long, ovoid, glandular, hispid (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).