Perennial herbs, 15-35 cm high, the stems arising from enlarged woody or lignescent roots. Leaves mostly basal, 10-18 cm long, 1.5-4.0 cm wide, petioles 2-7 cm long, blades ovate to linear-oblanceolate, passing into the petioles, scarcely lobed, of at all, the stem leaves mostly absent (except in occasional hybrids with B. lyrata), pinnately veined, pubescent on both faces, with mostly crenulate margins; heads 3-5 cm diam. including extended rays; peduncles 5-30 cm long, each with 1 or 2 (3) heads, hairy with numerous red to black warty hairs or red to black bulbous bases of hairs; involucre in 4-5 series, all similar in size and shape, the inner series falling with the achenes, broadly ovate, 10-15 mm long and as wide, apices broadly acute to narrowly obtuse; pales linear-oblanceolate, 5-8 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, apices rounded; ray florets 8, fertile, ligules 10-15 mm long, 3-5 mm wide, yellow on both surfaces, lower surfaces with 8 or more weakly defined veins, apices with sometimes 3 lobes; achenes broadly ovate to cordate, 5-6 mm long, 3-5 mm wide, epappose; disc florets staminate, numerous, corollas yellow, 4-5 mm long, lobes ca 0.5 mm long and pubescent. Flowering April through September.