Plants 6-18(-40) cm. Stems decumbent to ascending. Leaves narrowly lanceolate, 50-140 × 9-16 mm, margins entire or slightly undulate . Involucres 20-34 mm wide. Phyllaries narrowly obovate, apices abruptly acute. Cypsela faces sericeous. 2n = 12. Flowering Jun-Sep. Meadows, open rocky slopes, limestone outcrops in shrub communities; 2500-3800 m; Colo., Utah, Wyo. R. A. Mayes (1976) suggested a relationship between var. clementis and Pyrrocoma crocea.