A prairie perennial growing up to 9 feet tall with densely white-hairy stems. The elongated, keeled, and arched leaves are rough with short hairs growing up to 12 inches long and 2 inches wide. There are many flower heads in a tall, narrow cluster near the top of the plant. The flower heads are up to 4 inches wide with 10 to 25 yellow rays, up to 1½ inches long, surrounding a yellow disk.