Plants to 250 cm. Cauline leaves usually unlobed or shallowly lobed, spines usually less than 2-7 mm. Heads mostly 2-3 cm. 2n = 30.

Flowering summer (Jun-Aug). Wet soil, streams, fens, marshes, springs in montane coniferous forest areas, often on serpentine; 1200-1900 m; Calif., Nev., Oreg.

Variety breweri grows from the eastern North Coast Ranges of California and the Klamath and Siskiyou ranges east to the northen Sierra Nevada.