It is endemic to a relatively small area on the borders of three western States: Oregon, Nevada, and California.

The inflorescence is a raceme of widely spaced flowers with greenish white or purplish sepals and pale blue or purple, spoon-shaped petals.

[6] It lives in alkaline or adobe meadows and seeps, river valleys and moist plains in Great Basin sagebrush scrub.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's Conservation Strategy website reports that a large portion of this species' habitat has been converted to agricultural land, and its numbers are being limited by competition with invasive weeds, changes in hydrology, pressure from cattle grazing, and mowing in preparation for growing season.

howellii, has larger, more strongly purple flowers, and is a federally listed species.