[1] This plant is a perennial herb growing from a caudex which is clothed in the dried leaf blades of previous seasons.

The inflorescence is a dense raceme of flowers with yellow petals roughly a centimeter long.

[4] The habitat is made up of barrens and grasslands with the gray clay soils derived from the Mancos Shale.

Associated plants include Arizona fescue, rushy milkvetch, mountain snowberry, sun sedge, Woods' rose, and Gray's Townsend daisy.

It can be found growing with the rare species Pagosa skyrocket and Rothrock's Townsend daisy.