Plants 5–30 cm. Leaves 20–60 mm. Peduncles 10–40 mm. Phyllaries 5–8 mm. Ray corollas 5–8 mm. Disc florets 12–24(–34); corollas 3–5 mm. Cypselae 3–5.5 mm; disc pappi 2.5–4 mm. 2n = 24.

Flowering Jun–Dec. Deserts, desert grasslands, dry woodlands, roadsides; 1000–2000 m; Ariz., N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila).

Variety grandis is restricted for the most part to the Chihuahuan Desert with outlying populations in central Arizona. It often grows with Pectis angustifolia var. angustifolia in trans-Pecos Texas, especially on roadsides; occasional hybrids have been noted.