It is endemic to central Siskiyou County, California, where it is so rarely seen it was thought to be extinct until 1996, when eight individuals were located.

[1] The plant grows in an isolated wilderness but since it apparently only occurs on one single hillside it is considered very vulnerable to extinction.

[1] This is a small annual herb producing a stout, hairy, glandular stem up to about 20 centimeters tall.

The narrow leaves are up to 5 centimeters long, the upper ones sometimes divided into three to five lobes.

The inflorescence is a dense cylindrical spike of wide oval purple-green bracts, the flowers emerging from between them.