Plants 10-35 cm; setae yellowish, ± straight. Stems (slender, always with primary axes, branched near or beyond middles) sparsely setose (setae yellowish). Leaves: petioles setose; blades (narrowly elliptic), 10-20 × 2-4 cm. Involucres 11-16 mm. Phyllaries sparsely setose (setae blackish). Cypselae deep greenish to blackish or deep reddish brown, 7-12 mm, tapered distally, not distinctly beaked; pappi 5-10 mm. 2n = 22

Flowering May-Jul. Dry open ridges, rocky slopes; 900-2500 m; B.C.; Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nev., Oreg., Utah, Wash., Wyo.

Subspecies modocensis includes a diploid form and apomictic polyploid forms (E. B. Babcock 1947).