Perennials, 1-3+ cm (cespitose; caudices woody). Stems erect, sericeous. Leaves mostly basal; blades (10-25 mm) pinnati-palmately lobed (lobes 3-6+, ± oblanceolate to linear) or linear, faces sericeous. Heads borne singly or 2-3(-5) in corymbiform arrays. Involucres 4-6.5 mm. Phyllaries (14-)18-20, sericeous. ( Disc corollas: tubes glandular, lobes villous). Cypselae 1.5-2 mm (2-3-ribbed, glabrous; pappi of 3-5 subulate scales ca. 0.4 mm).

Flowering Jul-Sep. Rocky ledges and slopes; of conservation concern; 2700-3500 m; Nev.

Sphaeromeria compacta grows in the Charleston Mountains, Clark County.