Heterotheca refers to the differing seeds of the ray and disk flowers (image 1) in this plant (“hetero” means “different” in Greek and “theca” means “case”). This species grows to 20 to 50 cm in height (image 3) at maturity with flowers heads reaching 2.5 cm in diameter. The flowers, yellow in color, bloom from late spring to early fall with approximately 10 to 25 ray flowers per head.
The lower lanceolate leaves, which are deciduous, can be gray in color and do not posses petiole. The leaves are also “hairy” in appearance and to the touch (image 5). It is from this feature that this plant derives the second part of its name, villosa (villosa means “with hairs” in Latin).