Annuals, to 60 cm. Stems erect, branched distally, glabrous or slightly hairy. Leaves linear or subulate, 40–150 × 2–3+ mm, margins entire, faces glabrous. Involucres hemispheric, 5–10 mm. Phyllaries 10–14, ± lanceolate (distinct tips ± deltate), glabrous but for apices. Receptacles ± conic, papillate, glabrous or sparsely hairy. Ray florets 7–15; (corollas yellow) laminae oblong, 4–14 mm. Anther appendages deltate or broadly ovate. Cypselae gray, clavate or obovoid, 2–3.5 mm, margins not ciliate, faces glabrous, or hairy and papillate (papillae rusty or yellowish, wartlike); pappi 0.

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora): California.

Historically, aboriginal Californians used fruits and leaves of Lasthenia glabrata for food. The subspecies are allopatric and almost identical except for their cypselae.