Stems 8-25 cm, glabrous. Leaves: basal blades erect to often arcuate-spreading, needlelike to filiform, 0.5-2.5 cm × 0.3-0.8 mm, herbaceous. Inflorescences subcapitate, prolif-erating, ± loose cymes, secondary axes to 2 cm; bracts scattered within inflorescence. Pedicels 1-5 mm, gla-brous. Sepals conspicuously 3-veined, 3.5-4.5 mm, apex acute.

Flowering late spring-summer. Open, rocky, sagebrush slopes and flats, volcanic soils; 1300-2800 m; Calif., Nev., Utah.

M. F. Baad (1969) noted that var. subcongesta may be a xerophytic form of var. simulans. B. Maguire (1960) noted the existence of two historical records of var. subcongesta from Arizona, neither of which indicates a specific locality; we have not seen material from that state.