Leaf blades 6-25+ × 0.5-1.5 mm. Phyllaries 3-8 mm. Ray laminae 2-11 mm. Disc corollas 2-3.5 mm. Cypselae 2-3.5 mm; pappi 0.1-2 mm. 2n = 16.

Flowering Apr-Sep. Openings in sagebrush scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands, yellow-pine forests; 300-2200 m; Calif., Idaho, Nev., Oreg., Wash.

Blepharipappus scaber is unusual among self-incompatible, continental tarweeds for occurring widely in western North America and having a relatively limited distribution in the California Floristic Province.