Encelia microcephala A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 8: 657. 1873

Plants 20–60(–80) cm. Cauline leaves: largest proximal to mid stems; blades usually 3-nerved, linear-spatulate to oblong-spatulate, 6–25 cm, faces hispidulous to scabrellous or glabrate. Heads (3 –)5–15+ in corymbiform arrays, erect. Involucres turbinate, campanulate, or hemispheric, (8–)12–15(–20+) mm diam. Phyllaries deltate-ovate to oblong (unequal to subequal, margins ciliolate, apices obtuse). Paleae chartaceous, relatively firm. Ray florets (5–)13; laminae 8–14 mm (usually little surpassing discs). Disc corollas purple to brown. Cypselae strongly compressed, ± oblanceolate (scarcely winged, faces densely strigose); pap­pi of 2 ± subulate scales plus 0–4 shorter scales. 2n = 30.

Flowering (Jul–)Aug–Sep. Gulches, ravines, hillsides, semidesert sites, pinyon-juniper associations; 1700–2800 m; Ariz., Colo., N.Mex., Utah.

Helianthella microcephala grows in the Colorado Plateau province.