The plant is endemic to western Santa Barbara County, California, including in the Santa Ynez Mountains and near Lompoc and the location of Mission La Purísima Concepción.

It is a plant of the Coastal sage scrub chaparral habitats, on sandstone soils.

It is coated in long, white bristles and a dense foliage of shiny, hairless green leaves.

Each leaf is round to oval in shape and smooth along the edges, and up to 2.5 centimeters long.

The inflorescence is a hanging cluster of spherical to urn-shaped manzanita flowers each about half a centimeter long.