Shrubs , rhizomatous-spreading, 0.2-1(-2.5) m. Bark gray or brown, thin, smooth. Twigs densely covered with tight, yellowish, peltate trichomes. Leaves: petiole 10-15 mm. Leaf blade oblong to oblanceolate, to 75 mm, margins entire, apex obtuse, occasionally somewhat acute; surfaces abaxially rusty or golden pubescent, often becoming glabrate and glaucous with age. Fruits: cupule yellowish, 20-60 mm thick, densely spiny, surface obscured; nut light brown, 8-13 mm, glabrous, completely enclosed by cupule until maturity.
Alpine regions of the coastal ranges and the Sierra Nevada. Rocky slopes, chaparral and conifer forest, mostly at high elevations up to 3300 metres, but sometimes down to sea level.
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