Plants (30-)40-75 cm; woody roots or caudices with relatively long and slender branches. Stems ascending-erect, not wiry or brittle. Phyllaries hispido-hirsute (hairs white, ascending, relatively thick-based, dense on outermost phyllaries, much less so on mid and inner), eglandular.

Flowering May-Sep. Open, rocky sites in sagebrush, chaparral, juniper; 1000-1900 m; Calif.