A herbaceous perennial plant, from 0.4 to 1 m in height. There are hairs on the surface of the stem; it is round in cross section. Sharp, lanceolate-ovate, semi-stem-encompassing leaf blades sometimes have heart-shaped protrusions, and their underside and front surface are rough. The heads or conical shields consist of bisexual flowers, reaching 20 mm in diameter; their bilobed petals can be colored pink, white, deep red, pale yellow or deep orange.
The fruit is a multi-nut with kidney-shaped seeds of dark yellow color, reaching 0.2 cm in diameter; they remain germinating for 3 or 4 years.