[2] This plant is a biennial or perennial herb with one or more unbranched erect dark reddish-purple stems reaching anywhere from 15 centimeters to nearly a meter in height.

At the tops of the stems are thin clusters of flowers with rounded bright to dark yellow or orangish petals, each one or two centimeters long.

[5] The plant is mainly threatened by coastal and inland development in the area and mining of the sand it lives in.

About 75% of the remaining plants grow on land belonging to a sand mining company.

[5] Habitat that has been damaged by sand mining operations will likely never be restored to its natural condition.