It is endemic to California, where it grows in the chaparral and woodland of San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties.

It is a robust annual herb producing a hairy stem up to about half a meter tall.

The leaves are lance-shaped to narrowly oval and up to 12 centimeters long.

The nodding inflorescence bears flowers with yellow petals each a few millimeters long.

The fruit is a cylindrical capsule up to 2.5 centimeters long containing several dark-colored seeds.