Perennials, 3-8 cm; taprooted, caudices branched. Stems erect, sparsely hirsuto-villous (hairs equal), densely minutely glandular. Leaves mostly basal (persistent; petioles prominently ciliate, hairs spreading, thick-based); blades oblanceolate-spatulate to oblanceolate, 30-60 × 3-6 mm, cauline usually abruptly reduced distally, margins entire, coarsely ciliate, faces hirsute to hirsuto-villous, densely minutely glandular. Heads 1. Involucres 8-10 × 10-20 mm wide. Phyllaries in 2-3 series, sparsely hirsuto-villous, densely minutely glandular. Ray florets 15-25; corollas pinkish to purple, 7-10 mm, laminae coiling. Disc corollas 4.5-6 mm. Cypselae 3.5-4.5 mm, 2(-3)-nerved, faces sparsely strigose to glabrate; pappi: outer sometimes of setae, sometimes 0, inner of 20-27 bristles.

Flowering May-Jul(-Aug). Flat to gently sloping, open sites with shallow, gravelly soils over bedrock, volcanic sands and cinder, often with sagebrush or sagebrush-juniper, rhyolitic riparian areas; 1400-2200 m; Idaho, Nev.