Biennials or perennials, 50-150 cm. Stems 1-3, glandular. Leaves mostly cauline; blades green, broadly oblanceolate to spatulate, 9-21 cm, margins dentate, faces glandular-villous; distal cauline leaves lanceolate to ovate, gradually reduced. Heads 3-5. Involucres obconic to hemispheric, 11-18 mm diam. Phyllaries 10-25 mm, outer narrowly lanceolate, apices attenuate. Ray florets 28-75+; corolla tubes hairy, laminae red to reddish purple (narrowly oblong to linear, ciliate), 7-15 mm. Disc corollas yellow (lobes and veins red-tinged). Cypselae 6-8 mm; pappus scales unequal, shorter 1-2 mm, longer 2-3 mm. 2n = 38.

Flowering late spring-summer. Often common after fires, chaparral and woodlands, rocky or gravelly soils from various substrates; 300-2600 m; Ariz., Calif., Nev., Utah.