Plants 1-40 cm. Heads mostly 2-3 × 3-4.5 mm. Pistillate paleae thinly sericeous-lanuginose, longest usually 2-3 mm. Staminate corollas 1-1.5 mm. Cypselae 1.4-2.2 mm; pappi: staminate 0.9-1.3 mm.

Flowering and fruiting late Apr-early Jun. Ridges, hilltops, slopes, relatively dry, shallow, exposed soils of various substrates (including serpentine), often recently disturbed, usually within coastal fog belt; 50-1100 m; Calif.

Variety subvestitus is known from the southern San Francisco Bay area through outer southern Coast Ranges to San Luis Obispo County, plus populations in foothills of the central Sierra Nevada.