Erect herbs 1–1.5 m high; stems striate, glabrous or with a mixture of cobwebbed hairs and sessile glands. Basal leaves broad-ovate, to 50 cm long, 30 cm wide, apex obtuse, base truncate to cordate, margins finely and irregularly toothed, upper surface sparsely hairy, lower surface tomentose; cauline leaves similar but smaller. Capitula globose in bud, c. 20 mm diam., becoming hemispherical in fruit, in corymbose clusters; peduncles c. 2 cm long or more; involucral bracts glabrous or cobwebbed, shiny green and gold. Florets purplish-red; corolla about as long as involucre. Cypselas 5–7 mm long; pappus bristles numerous, 1–3.5 mm long. Flowers summer and autumn.
GipP, CVU, DunT, Strz. Also naturalised Qld, NSW. Native to Europe. Known in Victoria from a few widely scattered sites in the south, usually in moist, disturbed habitats.
Source:
Jeanes, J.A. (1999). Asteraceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 4, Cornaceae to Asteraceae, pp. 652–666. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
