Stems villous to tomentose. Abaxial leaf faces tomentose. Involucres obconic, 5-6 mm. Phyllaries tomentose. Disc florets 10-25; style-branch appendages lanceolate, 0.6-1.3 mm. 2n = 10.

Flowering May-Sept. Dry foothills, desert washes, roadsides, usually sandy soils; 900-2100 m; Calif.

Variety peirsonii is known from the northwestern Transverse Range (northwestern Los Angeles and south-central Kern counties), the Piute Mountains (Kern County), and the western Mojave Desert (eastern Kern County). The leaves have a dense tomentum that is only partly lost in age. The involucres are persistently tomentose.