Perennial herb to 90 cm tall, glandular, roughly hairy. Stems erect, branched above. Leaves pinnate with 5 or more leaflets. Leaflets linear or oblong, entire or 3-lobed. Capitula to 7 cm across, with long stalks; summer to autumn. Receptacle long-cylindrical. Ray florets yellowish and partly or entirely brownish purple. Disk florets yellow. Achenes oblong, 1.5-3 mm long, winged. Pappus of 1 or 2 scales, rarely absent. [Lepachys columnifera (Nutt.) Rydb. var. pulcherrima Wooton & Standl.]

Western North America

Source: Lawson, L.; Spencer, R. (2002). Dahlia. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press. (as Ratibida columnifera var. pulcherrima)