Subshrubs or shrubs, 20-70 cm; internodes mostly 10-30 mm. Leaf blades linear to filiform, 20-50 × 1-5 mm. Phyllaries 5, oblong to linear, 9-15 mm. Florets (5-)12-30; corollas whitish to purplish, 6-9 mm. Cypselae 6-10 mm; pappi: longer bristles 7-9 mm. 2n = 48. Flowering late winter-early summer; fall. Sandy, gravelly, and rocky sites (usually granitic) with desert scrub; 200-2100 m; Ariz., Calif., N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Baja California, Sonora).

Plant: Subshrub; herbage ill-scented; stems erect, 1-many, 3-7 dm, glaucous, glabrous; branches slender, ascending Leaves: 1-5 cm, simple, alternate or opposite, narrowly linear, entire, glaucous; blade dotted with embedded oil glands INFLORESCENCE: primary inflorescence a head, each resembling a flower; heads 1-few, discoid, peduncled, solitary or in ± leafy cymes; involucre 4-8 mm diam; phyllaries 5, free, 10-16 mm, oblong, glaucous, dotted or streaked with glands; receptacle naked Flowers: 20-30; corolla 7-9 mm, purplish or whitish; style branches long, slender Fruit: achenes, 8-10 mm, cylindric; pappus 6-7 mm, dull white to brownish, of many bristles Misc: Rocky slopes; < 1500 m.; Oct-Jun Notes: phyllaries dotted with dark glands References: J.C. Hickman, ed. The Jepson Manual.L. Benson & R. Darrow. Trees and Shrubs of the Southwestern Deserts. W.B. McDougal. Seed plants of Northern Arizona. ASU specimens.