Plants perennial, 5–10 cm; fibrous-rooted, with short, usually unbranched caudices.
Stems erect, hirsute to villous, minutely glandular.
Basal leaves persistent, spatulate to oblanceolate, 10–50 × 5–10 mm, margins entire, surfaces moderately to densely strigose, eglandular to minutely glandular.
Cauline leaves 5–10 × 1–5 mm abruptly reduced, often a single linear bract.
Heads 1, radiate.
Involucres 4–6 × 10–15 mm.
Phyllaries in 2–3 series, often purplish colored, surfaces moderately to densely woolly-villous, sparsely glandular.
Ray florets 40–60, bright yellow; rays 4–6 × 0.5–1.5 mm.
Disc florets corollas 3–4 mm.
Fruits 2–3 mm, moderately strigose; inner pappi of numerous barbellate bristles.
2n=18.
Ridges, talus, rocky slopes. Flowering Jul–Aug. 1600–2600 m. BW. WA; north to British Columbia, northeast to Alberta. Native.
In Oregon, this native species is currently known only from a single collection in the Eagle Cap Wilderness, Wallowa Mountains.
Erigeron ×arthurii B. Boivin was described as "sp. nov." and was noted to have originated as a hybrid between E. acris and E. aureus. It was treated by E. H. Moss and J. G. Packer (1983) as a hybrid. Specimens cited by Boivin are from widely separated localities in southwestern British Columbia and adjacent Alberta. It was included at specific rank in the treatment by A. C. Budd et al. (1987) but not by H. J. Scoggan (1978–1979, part 4) or G. W. Douglas et al. (1998–2002, vol. 1).
as described under Erigeron aureus