Herbs, spreading to erect, annual, 0.5-10 dm, glabrous, greenish to grayish. Stems: caudex absent; aerial flowering stems erect, solid, not fistulose, 0.4-4 dm, glabrous. Leaves basal or sometimes sheathing up stems 1-3(-5) cm; petiole 1-10 cm, tomentose; blade suborbiculate to subcordate, 1-5 × 2-8 cm, densely white-tomentose abaxially, floccose or glabrous and green adaxially, margins plane or wavy, entire or crisped. Inflorescences cymose, open, spreading to rather erect and somewhat strict, 5-70 × 10-60 cm; branches glabrous; bracts 3, scalelike, 1-1.5 × 0.5-1 mm. Peduncles absent or erect, straight, stout, 0.01-0.1 cm, glabrous. Involucres turbinate, 1-2 × 1-1.8 mm, glabrous; teeth 5, erect, 0.4-1.2 mm. Flowers 1.5-1.8 mm; perianth white with greenish or reddish midribs, becoming reddish, glabrous; tepals monomorphic, lanceolate to spatulate or ovate; stamens mostly included, 1-1.5 mm; filaments glabrous. Achenes brown, 3-gonous, 2 mm, glabrous.

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora): California.

Eriogonum hoffmannii is known only from the Death Valley region (M. DeDecker 1974) of Inyo County. Nearly all of its known populations are within the boundaries of Death Valley National Park (a few plants occur just to the west along California Highway 190 southeast of Travertine Point). It is of special concern but is well managed and protected.