Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Oregon, east to Idaho.

Habitat: Sagebrush desert, dry ponderosa pine forest openings, in deep or sandy soil.

Flowers: June-September

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Perennial

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Bumblebees, bees, flies, butterflies, beetles, wasps

Freely-branched perennial with a woody base, occasionally prostrate, but usually erect, the many branches forming a clump up to 4 dm. tall and wide.

Leaves tufted, mostly basal, 1.5-6 cm. long, the blade oblong-ovate to broadly lanceolate, about the same length as the petiole, densely gray-woolly on both sides.

Flowering stems are several times di- or trichotomously branched, forming a large inflorescence that is gray-woolly throughout. Involucres 3-4 mm. long, conic, usually with 3 erect teeth, borne singly throughout the inflorescence and subtended by a pair of leafy bracts. Tepals 6, cream to pink, 3-4 mm. long, the outer segments oblong and twice as broad as the inner segments.

3-angled achene

The leafy bracts below the flowers throughout the inflorescence separates E. niveum from the similar E. strictum, which has no leafy bracts.