Plants 20-60(-80) cm. Cauline leaves: largest proximal to mid stems; blades usually 3-nerved, linear-spatulate to oblong-spatulate, 6-25 cm, faces hispidulous to scabrellous or glabrate. Heads (3 -)5-15+ in corymbiform arrays, erect. Involucres turbinate, campanulate, or hemispheric, (8-)12-15(-20+) mm diam. Phyllaries deltate-ovate to oblong (unequal to subequal, margins ciliolate, apices obtuse). Paleae chartaceous, relatively firm. Ray florets (5-)13; laminae 8-14 mm (usually little surpassing discs). Disc corollas purple to brown. Cypselae strongly compressed, ± oblanceolate (scarcely winged, faces densely strigose); pap­pi of 2 ± subulate scales plus 0-4 shorter scales. 2n = 30.

Flowering (Jul-)Aug-Sep. Gulches, ravines, hillsides, semidesert sites, pinyon-juniper associations; 1700-2800 m; Ariz., Colo., N.Mex., Utah.

Helianthella microcephala grows in the Colorado Plateau province.