Shrubs, 20-120 cm. Stems 1-3+, erect, unarmed, pannose but for glabrescent streaks. Leaves: primaries linear-subulate, ascending to appressed, 5-20 (× 1+) mm, sparsely floccose, sometimes glabrate; secondaries linear-filiform to clavate, 3-15 mm, glabrous. Heads 3-7. Peduncles 3-15 mm. Involucres turbinate, 7-10 mm. Phyllaries 4, lanceolate to obovate. Florets 4; corollas cream to yellow, 9-10 mm. Cypselae 2.5-3.5 mm, hirsute; pappi of 100-130 bristles 6-8 mm. 2n = 60, 62, 120, 180.

Flowering spring-early summer. Sagebrush scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands, Joshua tree woodlands; 800-2400 m; Calif., Idaho, Nev., Oreg., Utah.