Shrubs, 10-50 cm; woody, highly branched caudices, proximal branches decumbent, bark tan to gray, flaky with age. Stems green, becoming whitish tan, ± ridged from leaf bases, densely puberulent. Leaves erect or closely ascending; sessile; blades with evident midnerves, linear to oblanceolate or narrowly oblong, 7-30 × 1.5-7 mm, flat to keeled, apices acute (often apiculate), faces glabrous or puberulent, sometimes sparsely stipitate-glandular. Heads in densely cymiform arrays, not overtopped by distal leaves. Involucres obconic, 9-15 × 3-5 mm. Phyllaries 20-25 in 4-6 series, in 5 strong vertical ranks, tan, often with green and/or purplish markings, midnerves evident throughout and ± expanded apically, lanceolate to elliptic, 3-8 × 0.5-1.5 mm, unequal, outer often herbaceous, inner scarious, strongly keeled, apices acute to acuminate, flat, faces puberulent. Disc florets 5-6; corollas 7-11 mm, lobes 1-2.1 mm; style branches 2.4-3.3 mm, appendages 1.5-2 mm. Cypselae tan, subcylindric (tapering proximally), ± flattened, 5-6.5 mm, faces glabrous, sparsely glandular distally; pappi whitish tan, 5.5-7.5 mm. 2n = 18. Flowering late summer-fall. Dry canyons and rocky crevices; 1000-2700 m; Ariz., Calif., Colo., Nev., N.Mex., Utah.

Plant: Subshrub 1-2 dm; caudex much-branched; stems erect, unbranched below inflorescence, brittle, rough, ± gray-hairy Leaves: 2-3 cm, alternate, sessile, entire, oblanceolate, rough-hairy INFLORESCENCE: primary inflorescence a head, each resembling a flower; heads discoid, in small, dense cymes; involucre 10-15 mm, ± cylindric; phyllaries in well defined vertical ranks, strongly keeled, acute to acuminate, straw-colored or purplish Flowers: 5-6; corollas 8-11 mm, generally yellow, lobes 0.5-3 mm, generally spreading; style branches long, slender, generally exserted Fruit: 5-6.5 mm, narrowly cylindric, ± 5-ridged, light brown, generally glabrous (sparsely glandular); pappus ± = corolla Misc: Rocky crevices; 1000-2100 m.; Aug-Oct