Annuals, 9-100 cm. Stems ± solid or fistulose. Leaves: proximal blades pinnatifid to toothed, faces ± hirsute and sometimes sparsely stipitate-glandular as well. Heads in crowded to open, corymbiform or paniculiform arrays. Bracts subtending heads sometimes overlapping proximal 0-¹/2 of each involucre. Phyllaries ± evenly and minutely stipitate-glandular, including margins and apices, with non-glandular, non-pustule-based hairs as well. Paleae in 1 series. Ray florets (7-)8-12; laminae pale yellow, 6-12 mm. Disc florets 10-21, all or mostly functionally staminate; anthers yellow or brownish. Pappi usually of 4-9 linear or oblong scales 0.8-1.1 mm, or of 1-5 subulate to setiform scales 0.1-0.9 mm, rarely 0. 2n = 18.

Flowering Mar-Jul. Grasslands, open woodlands and shrublands, barrens, disturbed sites, sandy, silty, or clayey soils, often ± alkaline; 70-900 m; Calif.

Deinandra pallida occurs in the southern San Joaquin Valley and the bordering Inner South Coast Ranges and southern Sierra Nevada foothills.