Annuals, 2-15 cm; herbage spicy-scented (lemon-scented in some Mexican populations). Leaves 10-40 mm, bases of distal blades not notably expanded. Peduncles 5-15 mm. Phyllaries linear, 3-5 mm, widest near middles, each with 1 subterminal oil-gland 0.2-0.5 mm plus smaller, submarginal oil-glands. Cypselae 2.5-4 mm; pappi of 0-7 awns or bristles 1-3 mm and/or coroniform. 2n = 24.

Flowering Jun-Dec. Deserts, grasslands, arid woodlands, shrublands, roadsides; 100-1100(-2500) m; N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Zacatecas).

Variety tenella is widely distributed in the Chihuahuan Desert and adjacent regions. The isolated occurrence in northern New Mexico perhaps represents an introduction.