Japan Flora: Stems subscaposc, loosely leaved, 50-100 cm. long, cobwebby or pubescent in upper portion; radical leaves rosu- late, much larger than the caulinc, ligulate, 15-55 cm. long, wingcd-pctiolatc, usually pinnarifid, the lobes spreading or erect, usually narrow and approximate, incised, glabrous on both sides, the spines 2-3 mm. long; caulinc leaves few, gradu­ally smaller, lanceolate or broadly so, pinnatcly lobed to in­cised, sessile; heads solitary, terminal, nodding at anthesis, erect in fruit, long-pedunculate; involucres campanulate-glo­bose, about 2.2 cm. long, 3-4 cm. wide; bracts sometimes cob­webby, 7-seriate, acute to obtuse, the outer very short, 3-4 mm. long, spine-tipped, appressed; corollas purplish, 17-19 mm. long; achenes 4-4.5 mm. long. Sept.-Oct. Wet places along rivers and streams in lowlands.

Honshu, Shikoku, Kyu­shu.

var. austrokiushianum (Kitam.) Kitam. Leaves narrowly elliptic, often prominently spinose; heads larger, often with 1-3 linear bracts at base; involucres 25-27 mm. long, 4-5 cm. wide, the bracts loosely imbricate; corolla 20-23 mm. long.  Wet places along rivers in Kyushu (s. distr.).