Perennials; caudex (buried), usually branched, sometimes simple, (cespitose); densely pubescent, trichomes (appressed), 4-7-rayed, rays distinct, furcate or bifurcate near base. Stems few to several from base, erect, (unbranched, slender), 0.3-1.5 (-3) dm. Basal leaves (tufted, erect); blade linear to very narrowly spatulate, 1-3(-4) cm, margins entire (involute). Cauline leaves similar to basal. Racemes relatively dense. Fruiting pedicels (ascending, curved or sigmoid), 2-10 mm. Flowers: sepals (greenish yellow), elliptic, 3.5-7 mm; petals spatulate, 5-6 mm, (not clawed). Fruits (erect), ovoid (or longer than broad), usually inflated, 4-5 mm, (apex acute, slightly flattened); valves pubescent, trichomes appressed; ovules 4-8 per ovary; style 2-4 mm. Seeds flattened, (mucilaginous). 2n = 10, 20.

Flowering May-Jul. Exposed windblown ridges, gravelly hills, open rocky knolls, gravelly hilltops, clay hillsides, granitic sand, reddish soil, sagebrush, mountain scrub, and pinyon-juniper areas; 1800-2800 m; Colo., Utah, Wyo.