Leaf blades lanceolate to oblanceolate, mid 20-80 × 6-15 mm, margins entire to irregularly dentate or serrate, faces glabrous or sparsely puberulent, often sparsely stipitate-glandular. Involucres broadly turbinate to hemispheric, 8-15 mm, widths 1-2(-3) times heights. Phyllaries 50-100, 1-2 mm wide (at midpoint), apices long-acuminate, 3-6 mm. Ray florets 30-60. 2n = 8.

Flowering Jul-Oct. Meadows, open areas, subalpine coniferous forests, oak woodlands, grasslands, creosote bush or sagebrush scrublands, often along streams, roadsides; 2300-3500 m; Colo., N.Mex., Wyo.

Variety bigelovii is found in the Rocky Mountains.