Plants herbs, erect, annual, 1–6 dm tall, glabrous, glaucous, grayish; stems with caudex absent, the aerial flowering stems erect, solid, not fistulose, 0.1–0.4 dm long, glabrous, glaucous; leaves basal, the petioles 1–5 cm long, tomentose, the blades cordate to subreniforme, (1) 2–5 cm long, 2–6 cm wide, densely white felty- tomentose abaxially, tomentose and grayish adaxially, the margins occasionally wavy; inflorescences cymose, open to diffuse, spreading to subglobose or flat-topped to umbrella-shaped, 5–35 cm long, 5–50 cm wide, the branches glabrous, glaucous, the bracts 3, scalelike, 1–3 mm long, 0.5–1.5 mm wide; peduncles absent; involucres deflexed, broadly campanulate to hemispheric, 1–2 mm long, 1.5–3 (3.5) mm wide, glabrous, the teeth 5, erect, 0.5–0.7 mm long; flowers 1.5–2 mm long, the perianth yellow to reddish-yellow, glabrous, the tepals dimorphic, those of outer whorl orbiculate, those of inner whorl narrowly ovate, the stamens mostly included, 1.3–1.5 mm long, the filaments glabrous; achenes light brown, trigonous, 2–2.5 mm long, glabrous. 2n = 40.

Involucres deflexed, broadly campanulate to hemispheric, 1–2 mm long, 1.5–3 (3.5) mm wide, glabrous, the teeth 5, erect, 0.5–0.7 mm long.

Flowering Jun-Oct. Sandy washes, flats, and slopes, saltbush, greasewood, sagebrush, and mountain mahogany communities, pinyon-juniper woodlands; 1300–2500 (3000) m; Intermountain Region of Utah (Beaver, Box Elder, Carbon, Duchesne, Emery, Garfield, Grand, Juab, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, Salt Lake, San Juan, Sanpete, Sevier, Tooele, Uintah, Utah and Wayne cos.) and Nevada (Churchill, Clark, Elko, Esmeralda, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Lincoln, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, Pershing and White Pine cos.), just entering portions of east-central California (Inyo and Mono cos.), southeastern Oregon (Malheur Co.), southern Idaho (Bannock, Butte and Owyhee cos.), southwestern Wyoming (Sweetwater Co.), western Colorado (Mesa, Montezuma and Rio Blanco cos.), northwestern New Mexico (San Juan Co.), and northern Arizona (Apache and Coconino cos.).