Plants mostly 3-12(-25+) cm. Stems ± decumbent-ascending to erect. Leaves mostly 1-3 cm; blades linear or lobed (lobes 3-7+, linear to filiform), faces puberulent and gland-dotted. Peduncles mostly 5-25 mm. Involucres ± obconic, 5-6 mm. Phyllaries 7-10+, green to purple, weakly carinate, oblanceolate to obovate, ± hirsutulous and gland-dotted. Ray florets 0. Disc florets 15-30+; corollas yellowish, 1-2 mm. Cypselae blackish to buff, 3 mm, hispidulous to villous, especially on angles and/or at bases; pappi of 8 white to tawny or purplish, obovate-rounded or oblanceolate to ± quadrate, apically truncate or acute scales 1-2 mm. 2n = 22. Flowering Aug-Oct. Roadsides, sandy slopes, and washes; 1600-2500 m; Ariz., Calif., Colo., N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Chihuahua); South America.