Plants 40-200 cm. Leaves: blades scabrous, pilose, hispid, or glabrous. Phyllaries: abaxial faces usually hispid, pilose, or scabrous, rarely glabrous. Ray florets 12-22. Disc florets 70-140. 2n = 14. Flowering mid summer-early fall. Prairies, along roads and railroads; 50-600 m; Ala., Ark., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Mich., Miss., Mo., Nebr., Okla., S.Dak., Tenn., Wis.