Basal leaf blades oblong-oblanceolate, oblanceolate, or spatulate, (1.6-)3.5-6(-8.5) × (0.3-)0.5-1.2(-1.7) cm. Cauline leaf blades ovate to oblong-ovate or obovate, (0.1-)0.5-1.8(-3.3) × (0.1-)0.3-0.7(-1.3) cm, pilose to sericeous abaxially, pilose to glabrate adaxially.

Flowering year-round. Sandy loams or clays, generally dry waste areas; 0-1500 m; N.Mex., Okla., Tex.; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Tamaulipas); West Indies.

Gossypianthus lanuginosus var. lanuginosus is known from New Mexico based on a specimen at NY but there is no additional location information.