Description:

Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower family)

Origin: Native

Life Span: Biennial or short-lived perennial

Reproduction: by seeds and sometimes by tubers on roots.

Leaves:

• light green to gray on upper surface, light gray to white underneath
• short, woolly hair on bottom surface; top may be velvety or covered with tufts of hair
• deeply lobed, with long yellow spines at edges

Stems:

• gray, cottony
• bases of leaves grow down stem, giving it a "winged" appearance
• simple or branching

Flowers:

• purple to pink or rose, rarely white
• bracts at base of flower end in long yellow spines

Root:

• slender to stout taproot
• may be branched at tip