The leaves are green, long and pinnatisect, lanceolate, mottled with white markings, while the underside is whitish and covered with matted woolly hairs.

The involucre of the flower head is covered by hairy scales ending with a single grooved thorn.

[2] The flowering period extends from April through July[2] and the seeds ripen from August through September[citation needed].

[2] The genus name derives from the Greek γάλα (= "milk"), referring to the dense white hairs covering the stems and leaves of this species, the species name tomentosus means hairy in Latin.

[2] This plant is distributed around the Mediterranean Basin, from Greece to the Iberian Peninsula, Morocco and Madeira and Canary Islands.