Plants mostly 1-2 dm. Stems arching upward. Leaves (smaller and fewer distally) usually smaller than 4 × 2 cm, bases not clasping, margins toothed or subentire. Heads 2-4(-5). Phyllaries (± 8) ± 13, 5-7(-8) mm.

Flowering summer. Rocky alpine and subalpine sites; 2800-4000 m; Calif., Nev.

Plants of var. occidentalis grow in the southern Cascade Mountains and the Sierra Nevada.