Stems usually crowded in tufts. Leaves 10-2(0-30) × 3-8(-12) mm. Peduncles 1-35+ mm. Involucres 4-6+ mm. Ray corollas inconspicuous, laminae ± erect, 2-2.5 mm. Disc corollas 1.5-3 mm. Cypselae black, 2.5-3.5 mm, hairs on margins 0.6-1.2 mm; pappus scales 1.5-2.5 mm. 2n = 38.

Flowering spring. Sandy or gravelly soils, often with sagebrush scrub; 800-3100 m; Calif., Idaho, Nev., Oreg.