[1] It is native to the Sierra Nevada and nearby mountain ranges of California, its distribution extending east into Nevada and north along the Cascade Range and Klamath Mountains into Oregon.

It is a rhizomatous perennial herb growing in a clump of rosetted basal leaves.

The leaves are lance-shaped, up to 8 centimeters long, and coated in silky hairs.

The plant produces an inflorescence up to about 15 centimeters tall consisting of a solitary flower head which is cylindrical to somewhat bell-shaped.

The fruit is a long, narrow achene which may be 2 centimeters in length including its plumelike pappus.