Daisy-like, 10 to 16 yellow to orange ray flowers surrounding 40 to 100 yellow to purple disc flowers. Each flower on its own stalk up to 14 inches high.
Oblong or oval awned or awnless scales on the disc flowers; both ray and disc flowers yellow, margins acute or obtuse and not tipped with a pointed end; leaf blades have variable margins.
Habitat
Sandy desert washes and alluvial fans, plains and mesas.
Flower Characteristics
Flowers at the ends of nearly leafless stems; flower heads enclosed by narrow lance-shaped, 1/4 to 1/3 inch long, hairy bracts; ray flowers 1/3 to 2/3 inch long, deeply lobed; disc flowers yellow to purple, form a 2/3 to 3/4 inch center.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Leaves are mostly basal, 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 inches long, with blades pinnately lobed with round or oblong scalloped divisions that are shaggy hairy. Flower stems are erect, 2 to 6 inches long.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Dry fruit is about 1/10 inch long, densely spreading hairs.