Perennials, (2-)3-9(-14) cm; taprooted, caudices diffuse with extensive systems of rhizomelike, relatively long and slender branches. Stems erect (simple, ± scapiform), villous, minutely glandular. Leaves mostly basal (persistent); blades linear to narrowly oblanceolate, 15-30(-45) × 1-2.5(-3) mm, margins entire or (mostly on early leaves) with 1-2 shallow lateral lobes or teeth, faces sparsely hirsuto-villous or glabrous, minutely glandular. Heads 1. Involucres 6-9(-10) × 9-15 mm. Phyllaries in 2-3 series, sparsely pilose (hairs 1-3 mm, with colored cross walls) or glabrous, minutely glandular. Ray florets 40-90; corollas white to pink or purplish, 5-9 mm, laminae (filiform, 0.3-0.8 mm wide, involute) erect, not coiling or reflexing. Disc corollas 4-5 mm. Cypselae 1.8-2.7 mm, 2-nerved, faces sparsely strigillose to glabrate; pappi: outer 0 (or inconspicous), inner of 28-40 (pinkish to purplish) bristles. 2n = 18.

Flowering Jun-Aug. Sandy and gravelly stream banks, gravel bars, sandy beaches, gravelly slopes, alpine tundra; 100-1400 m; Yukon; Alaska.

The erect, involute ray laminae of Erigeron purpuratus, E. denalii , and E. pallens distinguish them from other species of sect. Tridactylia. Distinctions among these species were studied by G. L. Nesom and D. F. Murray (2004).