Herbs, compact mats, 1-2.5(-3) × 3-8 dm. Aerial flowering stems erect, 1-2 dm, glabrous, without one or more leaflike bracts ca. midlength. Leaves in loose rosettes; blade narrowly elliptic to elliptic, 1-2 × 0.3-1 cm, glabrous and green on both surfaces, margins plane. Inflorescences umbellate; branches 3-8 cm, glabrous, with a whorl of bracts ca. midlength; involucral tubes 4-5 mm, lobes 1-3.5(-4) mm. Flowers 4-7 mm; perianth cream or whitish. Herbs, compact mats, 1-2.5(-3) × 3-8 dm. Aerial flowering stems erect, 1-2 dm, glabrous, without one or more leaflike bracts ca. midlength. Leaves in loose rosettes; blade narrowly elliptic to elliptic, 1-2 × 0.3-1 cm, glabrous and green on both surfaces, margins plane. Inflorescences umbellate; branches 3-8 cm, glabrous, with a whorl of bracts ca. midlength; involucral tubes 4-5 mm, lobes 1-3.5(-4) mm. Flowers 4-7 mm; perianth cream or whitish. Flowering Jul-Sep. Sandy to gravelly slopes, sagebrush communities, aspen and montane conifer woodlands; 1600-2300 m; Calif., Oreg. Flowering Jul-Sep. Sandy to gravelly slopes, sagebrush communities, aspen and montane conifer woodlands; 1600-2300 m; Calif., Oreg. Variety glaberrimum is localized and known with certainty from only five locations in the Warner Mountains of Lake County, Oregon, and Modoc County, California. A collection supposedly gathered somewhere in Klamath County, Oregon (Austin & Bruce 1758, DS) in 1897 is discounted. This expression of the species is worthy of introduction into cultivation.

Variety glaberrimum is localized and known with certainty from only five locations in the Warner Mountains of Lake County, Oregon, and Modoc County, California. A collection supposedly gathered somewhere in Klamath County, Oregon (Austin & Bruce 1758, DS) in 1897 is discounted. This expression of the species is worthy of introduction into cultivation.