Biennial or short-lived, monocarpic perennial, often branched at the base but with a simple caudex. Stems erect, 6–35 cm. Herbage tomentose, hispid. Leaves: basal petiolate, spatulate to oblanceolate, rounded to obtuse 1–6 cm long; cauline narrower, acute. Inflorescence bracteate below. Flowers: calyx hispid, hirsute, 7–10 mm long in fruit; corolla 3–6 mm long, 6–11 mm across the limb; fornices ochroleucus. Nutlets 4, ovate, rugose dorsally, 3–4 mm long; scar closed at the base (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Stony or sandy, often sparsely vegetated soil of grasslands, sagebrush steppe; plains, valleys, montane (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).