Stems 10-30 cm, glabrous except densely woolly at base. Leaves: stipules 0.8-3.5 mm; leaf pairs equal; blade 8-25 mm, fleshy. Inflorescences 2-4-flowered. Flowers: perianth 2.2-4.2 mm; hypanthium green, becoming brown and hard, terete to angular; sepals erect to spreading, central portion green, linear to oblong, concave, often unequal, fleshy, scarious portion becoming deciduous with age; staminodes slightly longer than sepals. Utricles ovoid. Seeds 0.9-1.1 mm.

Flowering spring-early summer. Limestone and quartzite outcrops; 1200-1600 m; Ariz., Calif., Nev.