Plants 5-20 cm. Stems (branched proximally) tomentose (not stipitate-glandular). Leaves 10-18 × 3-4 cm, deeply pinnately lobed (lobed remote, lanceolate or linear, entire or dentate). Heads 2-9. Peduncles tomentulose, eglandular. Phyllaries 8-12, tomentulose, eglandular, often glabrous distally. Florets 12-40. Cypselae dark brown.

Flowering Jun-Jul. Ridgetops, black shale hills, volcanic aggregate, gravelly soils; 1400-2100 m; Calif., Colo., Mont., Oreg., Wash., Wyo.