A short-lived herbaceous plant with upright stems growing up to 1.5 m tall. Its alternately arranged leaves (4-20 cm long) have irregularly toothed margins. The lower leaves are sometimes deeply lobed, while the smaller upper leaves tend not to be lobed. its drooping flower-heads are borne in loose clusters at the top of the plant. these orange, reddish, pinkish or purplish flower-heads (about 10 mm long) are cylindrical in shape and have no 'petals'. Its tiny 'seeds' (about 2 mm long) are topped with a tuft of silky hairs 8-12 mm long.