Plants erect or spreading, 1-3 dm. Stems slender, 1-3(-7) cm. Leaf blades 1-3(-5) cm. Inflorescences: bracts (2-)3, triangular, awns 0.5-1.5 mm. Peduncles 0.8-2 cm. Involucres: awns 7-16, dark red, 3-4 mm.

Flowering Jun-Aug. Sandy flats and slopes, chaparral communities, montane conifer woodlands; 1700-2000 m; Calif.

Variety abramsii is known only from the San Rafael Mountains, Topatopa Mountain, and Mount Pinos, in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.