A short-lived herbaceous plant developing a basal rosette of leaves at first. Its upright branched stems are hairy and grow up to 2 m tall. Its lower leaves (4-15 cm long) are elongated in shape with bluntly toothed to deeply lobed margins. Its smaller upper leaves are usually long and narrow with finely toothed or entire margins. Its small flower-heads (5-10 mm across) do not have any obvious 'petals' and turn off-white and fluffy as they mature. Its small 'seeds' (1-2 mm long) are topped with a tuft of pale brown or yellowish hairs about 3 mm long.