[6] The species was named for the community of Acton in Southern California, located in an ecotone of the Mojave Desert ecoregion and of the montane chaparral and woodlands in the San Gabriel Mountains.

The branches are lined with oval to roughly triangular leaves a few centimeters long, that are gray-green and woolly in texture.

[4] The inflorescence is a solitary daisylike flower head 1–2 inches (2.5–5.1 cm) in diameter, on a tall, erect peduncle.

[7] Encelia actoni is cultivated as an ornamental plant for drought tolerant and wildlife gardens, natural landscaping design, and habitat restoration projects.

The plant has a low fuel load, and so has fire retardant qualities in wildfire zones.