Plants perennial, cespitose, 0.3-1 dm; roots primary, woody. Stems ascending, with 1-2 pairs of leaves, sparsely villous, glabrate. Leaves mostly basal; petiole 0.7-1.5 cm; blade green, obovate to elliptic-oblong, 3.5-7.5 × 2-3 cm, apex obtuse to acute, very sparsely strigose to nearly glabrous. Inflorescences: heads white, subglobose to cylindric, 35-70 × 8-20 mm; bractlets concave, not crested. Flowers: tube densely lanose; perianth lobes white, oblong or oblanceolate, 4.7 mm, indurate, apex obtuse, spinose-tipped. Utricles not seen. Seeds not seen. Flowering summer-fall. Dry plains, hillsides; 1000-2000 m; Ariz., N.Mex.; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora).