Plants 5-36 cm. Stems branched. Leaf blades linear, 10-35(-55) × 1(-3) mm. Involucres turbinate. Phyllaries in 4-5-series, ovate-elliptic to oblong-elliptic, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely short-strigose. Ray florets 14-52; corollas yellow to brownish orange, laminae 3-12 mm. Disc florets 30-90; corollas yellow, narrowly funnelform, not contracted at lobes, lobes 5. P appi of 5(-8) bristles, prominently dilated at bases. 2n = 18.

Flowering Apr-Jul. Grassy or shrubby areas; 30-2000 m; Calif.; Mexico (nw Baja California).