Dark pussytoes are perennial, mat-forming wildflowers with clusters of erect stems arising 6-15 cm high from elongated rootstocks or stolons. The leaves and stems are densely and closely covered with white-matted hairs and with the stems at least minutely glandular beneath the hairs. The leaves of the basal rosettes are obovate or broadly spatulate in outline, 10-15 mm long and densely covered with white-matted hairs. The leaves of the floral scapes are linear-oblong in shape with acute tips.
The discoid flower heads are each narrow and number 2-5 per stem, these oriented in a close cluster (See photo above.). The involucres ae 4-5 mm high with the individual bracts woolly at their base and the lowermost and middle bracts are brownish or greenish while the upper and innermost are whitish or light brown with rounded tips.
Dark pussytoes may be found in open forests to open slopes at moderate to high elevations in the mountains.
Dark pussytoes may be found from northern Canada south through the mountains of the Pacific Northwest to California and east to Colorado and Arizona.
In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found between the elevations of 2400'-4200' between the Wind River and White Salmon River.
