They are also covered with cobwebby hairs. The herbage is slightly hairy to woolly or cobwebby. The herbage is hairy in texture, the hairs short to long, woolly to cobwebby. The spikelets sometimes have a curly tuft of hairs or cobwebby fibers near their bases. It is highly branched, dense to clumpy, fleshy, and cobwebby with fibers, especially when new. "Cirsium hydrophilum" may reach in height with a branching, cobwebby stem. It grows from a slender caudex and spreads via thin, wiry, cobwebby stolons. The purple or purple-tinged stems have woolly or cobwebby fibers. The plant is often slightly woolly or cobwebby in texture. The petals are narrow and folded cylindrically and the bracts have a cobwebby pubescence. The partial veil may be membranous or cobwebby, and may have multiple layers. The latter feature is formed when the cobwebby white partial veil collapses on the stipe.