Leaf blades 5-150(-250) × 2-25(-35+) mm. Peduncles 2-5(-15+) cm. Phyllaries (incurved in fruit), abaxial faces glabrous or scabrous to hispid. Cypselae 5-7.5 mm; pappi 0.1-0.5(-1) or 2-5 mm. 2n = 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18 (all Europe). Flowering (Mar-)Apr-May(-Aug). Disturbed sites; 0-100(-600+) m; introduced; Ariz., Calif., N.Mex., Tex.; Europe.

Plant: Herbage finely bristly; hairs minutely forked or barbed at tip; sap milky; stems 0.5-4 dm, branched, spreading Leaves: basal and cauline, alternate, 5-18 cm, generally oblong to oblanceolate; lower tapered to base INFLORESCENCE: primary inflorescence a head, each resembling a flower; heads solitary or 1-several in open cymose clusters; peduncles generally thickened; involucre 8-10 mm; phyllaries linear, strongly incurved, glabrous to densely bristly Flowers: many; ligules yellow, readily withering Fruit: achenes, 5-7 mm, minutely scabrous, cylindric, not beaked, often strongly incurved; pappus of outer achenes a low crown of fused scales; pappus of inner achenes short scales + elongated, bristle-tipped scales Misc: Locally naturalized weed of gardens, pastures, roadsides, etc; 0-750 m.