Plants 10–40(–50) cm. Stems usually simple, ± thinly arachnoid. Leaves mostly 2–8 mm wide; basal blades linear or narrowly elliptic, margins entire or denticulate, glabrous or abaxially thinly arachnoid; cauline linear or oblong, crowded or well separated, usually not surpassing heads. Heads crowded or in ± open arrays. Phyllaries unequal in 3–5 series; outer usually 1.5–2 times longer than wide. 2n = 26, 52.

Flowering Jul–Aug. Moist to dry sites, arctic and alpine tundras, bogs, riverbanks, grassy slopes, willow thickets, spruce forests; 10–1300 m; B.C., N.W.T., Nunavut, Yukon; Alaska; Russian Far East (Chukotka).