Plants herbs, erect, 1–4 (10) dm tall, glabrous, grayish; aerial flowering stems erect, 0.5–1 (2) dm long, glabrous; leaves basal, the petioles 0.3–3 (5) cm long, thinly tomentose, the blades oblong or rounded to subcordate or cordate, 0.3–1.5 (5) long, 0.3–1.5 (6) cm wide, densely white-tomentose abaxially, mostly tomentose and grayish or greenish adaxially; inflorescences cymose, occasionally distally uniparous due to suppression of secondary branches, open to somewhat diffuse, 5–35 (80) cm long, 5–30 (80) cm wide, the branches glabrous, the bracts 0.5–2 mm long, 1–2 mm wide; peduncles absent; involucres somewhat appressed to branches, turbinate, 1–1.5 long, 0.6–0.8 mm wide, glabrous, the teeth 5, erect, 0.2–0.3 mm long; flowers 1–1.5 mm long, the perianth white to rose, glabrous or infrequently puberulent, the tepals slightly dimorphic, those of outer whorl oblong-obovate, those of inner whorl oblong, the stamens included, 1 mm long, the filaments pilose proximally; achenes brown, trigonous, 1–1.5 mm long.

Flowering May-Nov. Sandy to gravelly flats and slopes, mixed grassland communities, oak and pine woodlands; 200–1200 m; coastal mountains of Fresno, Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, and Ventura cos., California.