Perennials or subshrubs, 13-35(-40) cm; hirtellous. Leaves: petioles usually 0 mm; blades linear, 3-8(-15) × 0.2-1 mm; margins usually entire, rarely 1-3-lobed. Heads (2-6) in tight, corymbiform arrays, 4-6.5 × 3.5-5.5 mm. Peduncles 1-10 mm. Involucres campanulate. Phyllaries 3-4, linear or lanceolate to oblanceolate, 5(-5) × 0.5-1.2 mm. Ray florets 0. Disc florets 24-36; corollas yellow, tubes 0.5-1 mm, throats tubular, 1-1.2, lobes 0.4-0.6 mm. Cypselae oblanceolate, (1.5-)2.2-2.8 mm; margins moderately calloused, moderately to densely coarse-ciliate; pappi usually 0, sometimes of 1-2 bristles 1-2 mm, usually plus crowns of cilialike scales, rarely callous crowns. 2n = 38 ± 2.

Flowering spring-fall (depending on rains). Limestone crevices, dry mountain slopes and canyons; 800-1700 m; Calif., Nev.

Perityle intricata has been treated as a subspecies or variety of P. megalocephala. Now that more collections are available for study, it is evident that this taxon should be treated as a species. The linear leaves, tightly aggregated heads on relatively short peduncles, and densely coarse-ciliate cypsela margins separate it from P. megalocephala with its broader leaves, loosely aggregated heads on longer peduncles, and short-hairy cypsela margins. Where the two distributions overlap (southern Nye County), they are reported to appear distinct in the field, with P. intricata occurring at lower elevations than P. megalocephala.