Plants herbs, matted, scapose, 0.3–1 dm tall, 1–3 dm across; stems spreading, with persistent leaf bases, up to 1/5 height of plant, the caudex stems matted, the aerial flowering stems weakly erect, slender, solid, not fistulose, 0.2–0.6 (0.8) dm long, glabrous; leaves basal, fasciculate in terminal tufts, the petioles 0.2–0.5 cm long, tomentose, the blades oblanceolate to spatulate or elliptic to ovate, 0.3–1 (1.4) cm long, 0.15–0.4 (0.6) cm wide, densely white-tomentose on both surfaces, the margins plane; inflorescences capitate, 0.8–1.2 cm wide, the branches absent, the bracts 3–6, triangular, scalelike, 1–3 (4) mm long; peduncles absent; involucres 4–7 per cluster, campanulate, 2–3 mm long and wide, weakly rigid, glabrous or sparsely floccose, the teeth 5– 6, erect, 0.8–1.4 mm long; flowers 2–3 mm long, the perianth bright yellow, glabrous, the hypanthium 1⁄4–1⁄3 length of perianth, the tepals monomorphic, oblong to oblong-obovate, the stamens exserted, 2.5–3.5 mm long, the filaments pilose proximally; achenes light brown, 2–3 mm long, glabrous. 2n = 40.

Flowering May-Jul. Volcanic slopes, mixed grassland and sagebrush communities, pinyon-juniper woodlands; 1400–2700; northern Lassen and Modoc cos. in California, northern Washoe Co., Nevada, and in south-central Lake and disjunct to southern Baker cos., Oregon.