It is native to the sandy soils of the deserts in California and Nevada.

It is a perennial herb forming a small patch on the ground.

The slender, hairless, tangling stems have pairs of tiny, pointed oval leaves, each leaf just a few millimeters long.

The minute inflorescence is a cyathium one millimeter wide.

It is made up of several rounded nectar glands in shades of yellow to deep red surrounding many tiny male flowers and one female flower.