Shrubs, 50-150 cm. Stems with slender branches from bases, hairy, developing fissured barks. Leaves cauline; petioles 2-7 mm; blades gray-green, narrowly ovate to deltate, 12-25 mm, apices acute or obtuse, faces sparsely canescent and strigose. Heads borne singly. Peduncles canescent. Involucres 9-13 mm. Phyllaries narrowly ovate. Ray florets 11-21; corolla laminae 8-15 mm. Disc corollas yellow, 5-6 mm. Cypselae 5-8 mm; pappi usually 0, rarely of 1-2 bristlelike awns. 2n = 36. Flowering Apr-Jun, Dec. Desert flats, rocky slopes, roadsides; 500-1500 m; Ariz., Calif., Nev., N.Mex., Utah. In the mountains of the eastern Mojave Desert in California, Encelia virginensis may intergrade with E. actoni at higher elevations, probably as a result of hybridization. Plants of E. virginensis in New Mexico may be adventive.