It may be short or quite tall, forming low clumps or towering to heights approaching 3 meters (10 feet).

The leaves are dull gray-green to bright white due to a coating of hairs, and the most basal ones on large plants may be nearly 0.5 m (1+1⁄2 ft) in length.

Each head is sphere-like, covered in large phyllaries with very long, spreading spines which are laced, often quite heavily, in fibers resembling cobwebs.

[5] The head is packed with disc florets which may be white to blood red to shades of purple.

[5] There are several varieties, which differ from each other in range and form:[4] The plant is widespread and fairly common across most of California: in its mountain ranges, valleys, and the Mojave Desert; and in the western Great Basin region in western Nevada, southern Oregon, and southwestern Idaho.