[1][2] The plant is endemic to the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California, where it is known from only a few occurrences in the vicinity of Baldwin Lake, a natural intermittent alkali lake near to the east of Big Bear Lake reservoir.

[1] The wildflower is a member of the flora in the rare quartz pebble plain habitat type on the north side of the lake, and of open meadows in the adjacent montane chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodland, and red fir forest habitats.

[2][3] The diversity of Big Bear Valley Pebble Plains species has been compared to that of coral reefs, and include 17 protected plant species and four rare kinds of butterflies [3] KBHR radio: "Pebble Plain Habitat… Only in Big Bear" Linanthus killipii is a small annual herb producing a hairy stem from 5–15 centimetres (2.0–5.9 in) tall.

The leaves are divided into needle-like linear lobes each up to 1 centimetre (0.39 in) in length.

[1] The inflorescence is an array of a few tiny flowers, each funnel-shaped with white lobes marked with purple at the bases and joined at a yellow throat.