Plants erect or mound-forming, 0.5-1.5 m. Leaves: petiole 4-8 mm; blade ± elliptic, 2-3 × 1-1.5 cm.

Flowering winter-early spring. Maritime chaparral and closed-cone conifer forests on stable dunes and sandstone uplands; 0-200 m; Calif.

Subspecies hookeri is restricted to the area surrounding Monterey Bay, Monterey County.