Plants 1–20 cm. Leaves 10–30 mm. Peduncles 3–10(–25) mm. Phyllaries 3–5 mm. Ray corollas 3–6 mm. Disc florets 6–14(–18); corollas 2–3.5(–4) mm. Cypselae 2–4.5 mm; disc pappi 1–2.5 mm. 2n = 24.

Flowering Jun–Dec. Deserts, desert grasslands, dry woodlands, roadsides; -60–1500 m; Ariz., Calif., Nev., N.Mex., Utah; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Sonora).

Variety papposa is widely distributed in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts and reaches the western fringes of the Chihuahuan Desert in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, where it intergrades with var. grandis in some localities.