Linosyris squamata A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 8: 290. 1870; Lepidospartum squamatum var. palmeri (A. Gray) L. C. Wheeler

Shrubs or treelets, 10–250 cm, spreading or broomlike. Flowering stems mostly glabrous. Leaf blades (flowering stems) scale-like, appressed, deltate, 2–3 mm. Peduncles 0–5+ mm. Involucres turbinate, 4–7 mm. Phyllaries 12–23, ovate to lanceolate, sparsely tomentose or glabrous. Florets 9–17; corollas 5–9 mm. Cypselae 3.5–5 mm, 10–15-nerved, glabrous; pappi 5–8 mm. 2n = 60, 90.

Flowering summer–fall. Sandy, gravelly soils, washes, terraces; 30–1600 m; Calif.; Mexico (Baja California).