Robust in nature, a perennial herb with a woody rootstock and milky sap that grows up to 1.2 m tall. Stems annual, branched in the upper part, thinly covered in cobweb-like hairs.

Leaves obovate or obovate-oblong, tapering more towards the base than in the opposite direction, up to 450 mm long, margins entire to shallowly lobed, green on both surfaces; upper surface and margins densely set with straw-coloured, spiny bristles, 2–7 mm long, longest at the apices of the marginal teeth; lower surface hairy like the stems; lamina base clasping the stems.

Capitula terminal 30–60 mm in diameter, in branched inflorescences, solitary on the stems, bright yellow; ray-florets 12–20 mm long; disk-florets numerous; floral bracts narrow, 1 mm wide, tips and margins spiny. Flowering in spring to late summer (September to February).