Annuals or perennials, 20-70(-100+) cm; taprooted. Stems persistently tomentose, not glandular (2-3 mm diam. near bases). Leaf blades narrowly to broadly oblanceolate, mostly 2-4(-5) cm × 2-8(-15) mm, bases not clasping, not decurrent, margins flat, faces weakly bicolor, tomentose (adaxial less densely tomentose, sometimes sessile-glandular beneath tomentum). Heads usually in loose, corymbiform arrays. Involucres turbinate-campanulate, 4-5 mm. Phyllaries in 3-4 series, white (opaque to hyaline, dull to shiny), narrowly ovate-lanceolate, glabrous. Pistillate florets (16-)24-44. Bisexual florets (1-)2-5(-6), 5-6 more common in northern part of range. Cypselae ridged, weakly papillate-roughened. 2n = 28. Flowering Aug-Nov(-Jan). Lava beds, rocky sites, grasslands, oak, pine-oak, and pine woodlands; 1100-2500(-2700) m; Ariz., Calif., Colo., N.Mex., Okla., Tex., Utah; Mexico. Most plants of Pseudognaphalium canescens produce white, opaque, keeled, apiculate phyllaries; in the southern portion of its range (Jalisco southeastward) and scattered localities elsewhere, the phyllaries may be more hyaline and lack a pronounced keel and apiculum.
