Chrysothamnus speciosus Nuttall, Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 323. 1840; C. nauseosus (Pallas ex Pursh) Britton subsp. albicaulis (Nuttall) H. M. Hall & Clements; C. nauseosus subsp. speciosus (Nuttall) H. M. Hall & Clements

Plants 40–200 cm (shorter in some alpine forms). Stems whitish, leafy, loosely tomentose. Leaves dark green to grayish white; blades 1-nerved, linear to linear-oblanceolate, 30–70 × 0.3–1.5(–2.5) mm, faces usually loosely, rarely compactly, tomentose. Involucres 7.5–13.5 mm. Phyllaries 12–28, apices erect, acute, abaxial faces tomentose (especially outer), sometimes sparsely. Corollas 8.7–13 mm, tubes tomentose or glabrous, lobes 1.1–2.1 mm, glabrous; style appendages longer than stigmatic portions. Cypselae densely hairy; pappi 6–11.3 mm.

Flowering late summer–fall. Dry habitats, including juniper-sage, yellow pine, and pinyon communities; 50–3500 m; Alta., B.C.; Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nev., Oreg., Utah, Wash., Wyo.

Variety speciosa intergrades with vars. hololeuca and oreophila. Stabilized hybrids with Ericameria discoidea occur in Mono County, California.