Low to short plant. Leaves are alternate, not in a basal rosette, cottony beneath. Leaves, bracts and stems all spiny. Flowerheads are 15 to 40 mm, solitary or in groups of 2 to 5, ray less but with numerous spreading shiny yellowish bracts which are linear and pointed. Flowers open in dry weather.

Provide a photo of the whole plant in its habitat (RPR)

Favours dry well grazed grassland, especially limestone grassland, cliffs and quarry faces etc.

Flowers July to September with old plants persisting for a while.

Biennial.

England Red List: Near Threatened

Uncommon in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the Flora of Leicestershire (Primavesi and Evans 1988) it was found in 6 of the 617 tetrads, and in the Flora of Rutland (Messenger 1971) in 9 tetrads.

In the current checklist (Jeeves 2011) it is listed as occasional; nearly scarce. 

It is listed on the current VC55 Rare Plant Register (Hall and Woodward 2022) because of its threat-level