General:
Perennial herb from a taproot and a simple or slightly branched woody base; stems several to many, freely branched, glabrous, 8-30 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves numerous, spoon-shaped to orbicular or egg-shaped, 3-10 cm long, 0.6-2 cm wide, entire to coarsely toothed, abruptly sharp-pointed, long-stalked, glaucous and purplish; stem leaves linear, with long-pointed tips, stalked or unstalked, somewhat reduced upwards.

Flowers:
Heads with strap-shaped flowers, numerous in an open inflorescence; involucres 8-10 mm tall, cylindric; involucral bracts glabrous, the outer ones 7-8, very short, egg-shaped or oblong, abruptly sharp-pointed, the inner ones 8-10, 2-ranked, broadly papery-margined, abruptly sharp-pointed or obtuse, purple at the tip, becoming thickened near base; receptacles glabrous; ray flowers yellow, 6-8 mm long.

Fruits:
Achenes golden brown, 4.5-5.5 mm long, very slender with a short, slender beak about 1 mm long, about 10-ribbed with relatively narrow ribs that tend to be roughly short-hairy above; pappus white, of very fine, soft, hairlike bristles, deciduous.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Crepis elegans Hook.