It is native to the Western United States, where it grows in many types of habitat, such as the sagebrush of the Great Basin and in the Mojave Desert.

It is a small herb producing a thin, branching stem up to about 23 centimeters tall.

Several deeply lobed leaves 1 to 6 centimeters long are located in a basal rosette at ground level around the stem.

The inflorescence produces one to three flowers, each about half a centimeter wide with a thread-thin tube.

The corolla is purple-stained white, the throat is yellowish, and the tube is purple.