Herbs, mats, to erect subshrubs, 3-5 dm. Leaf blades tomentose on both surfaces. Involucres 5-8 mm wide; teeth erect to slightly reflexed, 1-2 mm. Flowers usually 5-8 mm.

Flowering May-Jul. Volcanic or granitic flats and slopes, manzanita and buckbrush communities, oak and montane conifer woodlands; 800-2200 m; Calif.

Variety prattenianum is widely scattered in disjunct populations along the western slope of the northern and central Sierra Nevada (Calaveras, El Dorado, Madera, Mariposa, Nevada, Placer, and Tuolumne counties) from Nevada City in the north to Chowchilla Mountain in the south.