It is an extremely variable plant and hard to identify because individuals can look very different from one another.

It may be a perennial herb blooming by summer[1] with stems 10 centimetres (4 in) tall[citation needed] and two to six clusters of flowers, with a whorl of leaves below the stems,[1] or a sprawling shrub approaching 2 metres (6+1⁄2 ft) high and wide.

[citation needed] The leaves are usually woolly and low on the plant, and the flowers come in many colors from white to bright yellow to purple.

It is native to western North America from California to Colorado to central Canada, where it is abundant and found in many habitats, including the sagebrush steppe and alpine areas.

The cultivar "Kannah Creek", a selection of Eriogonum umbellatum var.