Stems erect, 5–29 cm. Leaf blades lance-linear, 20–60 × 2–12 mm. Phyllaries 8–11, subequal. Ray corollas 1.5–2.5+ mm. Cypselae: rays 4 mm (with awns 2–3 mm), subterete, obscurely 3-angled, each sulcate on angles and on abaxial face; discs 4-angled, innermost ± compressed, not winged. 2n = 22.

Flowering late summer–early fall. Open places, scrub-lands, pinyon-juniper woodlands; 1400–2400 m; Ariz., Calif., N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora).