It is native to the Pacific Northwest in western North America from Vancouver Island, where it is known from just a few occurrences,[1] to northern California.

It grows in seasonally moist spots such as meadows, spring seeps, and vernal pools.

This is a small erect annual herb growing up to about 15 centimeters tall with a pale silvery or gray-green branching stem coated in woolly or cobwebby fibers.

The inflorescence is a small, spherical flower head less than a centimeter wide located at the tip of the stem or in a leaf axils.

Each tiny flower is covered in a scale which is densely woolly with long white fibers, making the developing head appear cottony.