Plants 12-25 cm (with multicipital crowns, not cespitose; taproots thick, woody). Stems strongly woody proximally , glandular. Leaves: proximal and mid separated by evident internodes; blades oblong-ovate, 4-6 mm, distal much reduced, margins green, faces hispidulous, sessile- to stipitate-glandular. Heads borne singly or in loose, corymbiform arrays. Involucres 6.5-7 mm. Disc florets functionally staminate (with sterile ovaries); corollas 4-4.5 mm. Cypselae 2.5-2.8 mm, faces eglandular. 2n = 18.

Flowering Jun-Aug. Crevices of sparsely vegetated sandstone, areas of Pinus monophylla, Pinus ponderosa and Arctostaphylos pungens; of conservation concern; 2000-2100 m; Nev.

Ionactis caelestis is known from a single population in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area of the Spring Mountains, Clark County.