Formerly named Raillardiopsis muirii, the plant was reexamined in the 1990s and moved to a new genus of its own, separate from similar and closely related genera, such as Madia.

[2] The specific epithet "muirii" honors Scottish-American naturalist, John Muir (1838–1914).

[7] Carlquistia muirii is a rhizomatous perennial herb forming clumps or mats of stems with hairy green pointed leaves up to about 4 centimeters long.

The fruit is a very narrow achene which may exceed one centimeter in length including its pappus of plumelike bristles.

It has a discontinuous distribution, occurring in the southern Sierra Nevada (Fresno, Tulare, and Kern Counties) and on the other western side of the San Joaquin Valley around the Ventana Double Cone in the Santa Lucia Mountains of Monterey County.