Stems ascending, 3–20 cm from a simple or branched caudex clothed in old leaf bases. Basal leaves 1–5 cm long; the blades ovate to orbicular, entire. Stem leaves oblanceolate, reduced. Vestiture of dense, stellate hairs. Petals 7–11 mm long. Fruit obcordate, inflated, 5–7 mm high, 2-lobed, with a wide apical sinus; style 3–7 mm long; seeds 2 to 3 per locule; pedicels spreading, sigmoid, 4–12 mm long (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Sparsely vegetated, gravelly or sandy soil of grasslands, steppe, open forest; valleys to subalpine (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).