It is native to California and Oregon, where it grows in wet grassy habitat, such as vernal pools and moist spots in woodlands.

It is an annual herb producing an erect or decumbent stem up to about 30 centimeters long.

The leaves divided into several lobed or unlobed leaflets.

The flower is cup-shaped with white petals 1 to 1.5 centimeters long.

[1] White meadowfoam is very susceptible to the Botrytis cinerea fungus; commercial crops were devastated during the 1982 and 1984 growing seasons.