Townsendia condensata

Cushion Townsendia is a small, stemless, perennial daisy which forms small cushions, usually less than 2 cm tall, from simple or branched rootstocks. Its leaves are narrowly to broadly spatula shaped, 6-15 mm long and 1-3 mm wide, and are loosely covered by long, woolly, multi-cellular hairs. The flowers are borne in stemless composite heads There are usually 3-5 series of linear to narrowly lance shaped involucre bracts. The strap-shaped corollas ("petals") of the ray flowers are white, pink, or lavender, and are 8-16 mm long. The disk flowers have shorter, yellow, tubular corollas. Both ray and disk corollas are encircled by a pappus of slender bristles. The achenes (dry, 1-seeded fruit) are 4.2-6.2 mm long and moderately hairy.

Distinguished by its cushion-forming habit and long, woolly leaves, the lowest of which are relatively broad, narrow involucre bracts. Also distinguished by having a pappus which readily falls off of the mature achene.