Leaf blades ovate to lanceolate or oblong- or linear-lanceolate, 3–11 × 0.8–3(–5) mm. Involucral gland appendages absent or lanceolate-deltate, entire, crenate, or deeply cleft, 0–1 × 0–0.9 mm. 2n = 52.

Flowering and fruiting spring–late fall. Mesa slopes, ridges, rock crevices, cliff faces, mostly rocky limestone soils, sometimes gypsum, rarely igneous-derived soils; 600–2500 m; Ariz., N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Coahuila).