Rhizomes 1-3 mm diam. Leaves: blades (2-)4-18(-30) × 0.8-1.2(-2) mm. Peduncular bracts 0-3, remote, distal (mostly beyond midstem), 4.5-7 mm, margins and apices brown, hyaline, erose, scarious. Phyllaries 5-8 × 2-3 mm. Ray laminae (4-)6-7 × 2-3.2 mm, with 2-5 hairs inside opening of tube. Disc corollas 2.5-3 mm, tubes greenish, lobes 0.35-0.5 mm, reflexed, tips brown and callous. Cypselae brown, 1.5-2 mm, ribs pale. 2n = 18.

Flowering summer. Alpine zones, moist to mesic gravelly sites, arctic tundra, moist to well-drained, exposed areas with low organic content, on rock, gravel, sand, silt, clay, till, or moss, calcareous or not, seldom on sea beaches or areas exposed to salt spray; 0-500+ m; B.C., N.W.T., Nunavut, Que., Yukon; Alaska; e Asia (Russian Far East).