Plants erect, 1.5-3 × 1.5-3.5 dm. Aerial flowering stems erect, 0.5-1 dm, tomentose. Leaves: blade narrowly oblanceolate to oblanceolate or spatulate, (1-)1.5-3.5(-4) × 0.2-0.7(-0.9) cm, margins plane. Inflorescences subumbellate to cymose, usually divided 3 or more times, 5-10 cm; branches tomentose. Involucres 1 per node, turbinate, (2-)3-3.5(-5) × 2-2.5(-3) mm, tomentose. Flowers (1-)1.5-2.5(-3) mm; perianth yellow, sparsely pubescent.

Flowering Jul-Sep. Clayey flats and slopes, mixed grassland and sagebrush communities, juniper woodlands; 1100-1800 m; Mont., Wyo.

Variety canum is rare throughout its widely scattered range in Carbon, Park, and Yellowstone counties, Montana, and in Big Horn and Sheridan counties, Wyoming.