Annuals, 1-3 cm, eglandular; usually taprooted, rarely producing slender caudex branches when buried. Leaves not densely overlapping, basal blades oblanceolate-spatulate, cauline mostly oblanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, 5-20(-30) × 2-5 mm, herbaceous, bases not clasping, flat, faces strigose. Involucres hemispheric, 3.5-6 × 4-10 mm. Ray florets 10-20(-32); corollas white. Disc florets 33-106, bisexual. Cypselae 1.8-2.1 mm, 2(-3)-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi in 2 series, outer of (4-)5(-8) broad, white, hyaline scales 1-1.5 mm plus alternating inner of (4-)5(-8), barbellate bristles 2.1-3 mm. 2n = 16, 32.

Flowering May(-Sep, -Nov). Limestone outcrops and roadcuts, juniper and oak woodlands; 100-900 m; Tex.; Mexico (Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas).

Chaetopappa bellioides is distinct in growth habit: numerous ascending stems usually arise from the apex of the caudex and form a bowl-like shape. Branches in other Chaetopappa species mostly arise above the base of the stem.