Plants 5–10 (18) dm tall; aerial flowering stems not fistulose, 2–5 (8) dm long, tomentose to floccose; leaves basal, the blades 2–4 cm long, 1.5–2 cm wide, tomentose abaxially, thinly floccose adaxially, the margins plane; inflorescences cymose, 20–50 (100) cm long, 10–50 cm wide, the branches tomentose to floccose; involucres 3–6 per cluster, 3–5 mm long, tomentose; flowers 3–4 mm long, the perianth white to rose or yellow, pubescent. 2n = 40.

Flowering May-Oct. Sandy to gravelly slopes and flats, grassland and chaparral communities, oak and montane conifer woodlands; 20–1900 m; southern Oregon (Curry, Deschutes, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Lane cos.) south to northern California (Amador, Butte, Del Norte, El Dorado, Humboldt, Lake, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Joaquin, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne and Yolo cos.) and northwestern Nevada (Douglas and Washoe cos.).