E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial herb, mat-forming with stolons 1-4 cm long; stems erect, few, branched above, densely woolly-hairy, 5-13 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves spoon-shaped to oblanceolate or linear, gradually stalked, 6-20 mm long, 2-6 mm wide, grey-hairy to densely woolly-hairy, 1-nerved; stem leaves similar, becoming unstalked, linear, reduced upwards, abruptly sharp-pointed, with a sharp, slender point.

Flowers:
Heads several to numerous in a compact inflorescence; involucres of 2 types, the female ones 4-8 mm tall, the male ones similar, 4-8 mm tall; involucral bracts lanceolate, the upper papery portion dark brown, black or olivaceous; female flowers 3.5-4.5 mm long, male flowers 2.5-4.5 mm long.

Fruits:
Female and male achenes 0.6-1.5 mm long, glabrous or warty; pappus white with hairlike bristles, 4-4.5 mm long.

Notes:
Male plants are rare or lacking in N BC.