Herbs, forming upright columnar clumps 3-5 dm diam., glabrous or densely pubescent. Stems 3-6 dm. Leaves strongly ascending; petioles of proximal leaves 0.3-0.5 cm; blades of midstem leaves ovate to narrowly ovate, 3.5-6 × 2-3 cm, base acute to rounded, symmetric, apex acute. Involucres: peduncle 6-10 mm; involucres pendent, 12-21 mm; bracts 5, 50% connate, apex acute to widely ovate. Flowers 6 per involucre; perianth usually creamy white, 1.2-1.5 cm. Fruits dark brown, with 10 slender, tan ribs occasionally evident at base, ellipsoid, 7-8 mm, smooth, glabrous, not secreting mucilage when wetted. 2n = 66.

Flowering mid spring-early summer. Calcareous hills and flats in arid brushlands; 1000-1500 m; Nev.