September 18, 1804, near present-day Chamberlain, South Dakota.

Low perennials, loosely tufted or lying flat on the ground, short-stemmed or sometimes slightly stemmed, with a taproot and branching caudex, densely straight, stiff hairs, with some ax-shaped hairs; herbage silvery-white to greenish-gray.

Common in prairies, bluffs, gullied hillsides, and dry open places. Often found on gypsum.

Throughout the Great Plains but absent in the southeast. Found in southern Manitoba, Alberta, south to eastern Minnesota, southwestern Oklahoma, west to Texas, Montana, eastern Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. This species can be found throughout North Dakota and in extreme west-central Minnesota.