The leaves are mostly or entirely basal, growing very near the surface of the soil rather than being held on stems above ground level.

The flowers are shades of orange or yellow with a superficial resemblance to dandelions.

Plants of the World Online (POWO) synonymizes genus Nothocalais into Microseris.

While the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS database (PLANTS),[5] World Flora Online (WFO),[6] the Global Compositae Database (GCD),[7] and Flora of North America (FNA)[4] continue to list Nothocalais as a separate genus as of 2023.

The only species classified by WFO in Nothocalais is Microseris nigrescens as Nothocalais nigrescens, which is also the classification in PLANTS and FNA.