Plants 10-60(-90) cm. Stems glaucous. Leaves: petiole 4-15 (-30) cm; leaflets 3 proximally, 1 distally, blade obovate, 4-15 × 0.1-7 mm, margins serrate, apex acute to obtuse. Racemes 2-8 cm (3-10 cm in fruit); bracts (expanded) unifoliate or trifoliate, 4-15 mm. Pedicels 4-8 mm. Flowers: sepals brownish green, ovate, 1.4-2.5(-3) × 1-2 mm, base cuneate, margins serrulate, apex acuminate, glabrous; petals recurved, yellow with brown central streak, strap-shaped, 9-13 × 1.5-3 mm; stamens staggered, yellow, 9-15 mm; anthers 3-5 mm; gynophore 2-5 mm in fruit; ovary 4-7 mm; style 0.1-0.4 mm. Capsules 15-45 × 1-3 mm, smooth. Seeds silver-gray, compressed, 2-3 × 1-1.5 mm, smooth. 2n = 32.

Flowering spring-summer. Sand dunes, beaches, desert valleys, typically with Larrea divaricata and Artemisia species; 900-2000 m; Calif., Nev.