Catananche arenaria Coss. & Durieu, it is an annual, appressed, hairy herbaceous or suffrutescent, simple or branched, up to (5-) 10-25 (-40) cm tall. Leaves very narrow, simple, entire or pinnatilobed, appressed hairy, mostly crowded into basal rosette; those of the rosette and lower cauline ones up to 7 cm long; upper cauline leaves up to2.5 cm long. Capitula I (-2). terminal on each branch, pedunculate or sub sessile, as well as sometime a few, sessile, additional capitula in the axils of the rosette leaves; sometimes 1-2 leafy bracts present below the capitulum; peduncles 2-10 (-15) cm long. Involulcre (10-) 15-20 mm long; involucral bracts (4-) 5-6 rowed, scarious with brownish midrib, acuminato-aristate. Outermost involucral bracts 4 x 2 mm, ovate. Involucral bracts of the 2nd row 6.5 x4 mm, broadly ovate, strongly concave. Involucral bracts of the 3rd row 8.5 (-9) x 5 mm, broadly ovate, lower part abruptly narrowed into flat, ± weak coriaceous stalk (c. 2 mm). Involucral bracts of the 4th row 10 (-11.5) x 6-6.5 mm, similar to the preceding involucral bracts (basal part c. 3 mm, coriaceous body with strong lateral scarious wings). Innermost involucral bracts 14-15 x 2.5 mm, linear-lanceolate, weakly narrowed at c. the middle. Ligules yellow, up to c. 1.5 times longer than the involucre, soft hairs on the under surface. Cypsela 3.5 mm long, obeonical, 5-ribbed; ribs hairy; pappus homomorphic, of 5 scales; scales ovate, imbricate. thin papery. 3 x 1 mm, inconspicuously white tuberculate, aristate; arista 7·8 mm long, scabrid-white.
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