Plants mat-forming, not stolon-iferous, slenderly rhizomatous. Leaves basal and cauline, (basal crowded, cauline 3-5+); petiole absent; blade linear-oblanceolate to narrowly spatulate, unlobed, (2-)3-10(-12) mm, fleshy, margins (recurved), entire, eciliate, sometimes sparsely glandular-ciliate, apex rounded, surfaces glabrous, sometimes sparsely stipitate-glandular. Inflorescences 2(-3)-flowered cymes, sometimes solitary flowers, 2-8 cm, sparsely pink- to purple-tipped stipitate-glandular; bracts sessile. Flowers: sepals strongly reflexed, oblong to ovate, margins densely glandular-ciliate, sometimes eciliate, surfaces stipitate-glandular; petals bright golden yellow, sometimes orange-tipped proximally, not spotted, elliptic-oblong to obovate, 4-8 mm, longer than sepals; ovary superior.

Flowering summer. Alpine tundra, wet talus slopes, rocky areas; 2700-4500 m; Colo., Mont., N.Mex., Utah, Wyo.