It is estimated that 95% of the remaining individuals of this plant are part of a single population growing at MacKerricher State Park.

This is a decumbent or spreading species, growing hairy stems along the ground up to about 10 centimeters long.

The inflorescence is a cluster of flowers, each surrounded by a starlike array of six spreading white bracts tipped with straight brown awns.

[3][4][5] Threats to this species have historically included off-road vehicle use, trampling by people on foot and horseback, non-native plant species such as the iceplant Carpobrotus edulis and beachgrass Ammophila arenaria.

[2] These impacts have been reduced in the state park with a ban on off-road vehicles, limiting foot and horse traffic, and removal of non-native plant species.