Annuals or biennials, (20-)40-100 cm. Stems 1-3, glandular. Leaves mostly cauline; blades green, oblanceolate to spatulate, 5-14 cm, margins dentate, faces glandular-villous; distal cauline leaves broadly oblanceolate to ovate, gradually reduced. Heads 3-5. Involucres hemispheric, 15-27 mm diam. Phyllaries 8-12 mm, outer narrowly lanceolate, apices acuminate. Ray florets 20-35; corolla tubes glabrous; laminae yellow (narrowly elliptic to narrowly oblong-lanceolate), 10-12 mm. Disc corollas yellow. Cypselae 4-6 mm; pappus scales subequal, 1-2 mm. 2n = 38.

Flowering late spring-summer. Common after fires, chaparral and woodlands; 1000-1100 m; Calif.; Mexico (Baja California).

In the flora area, Hulsea mexicana grows in southern San Diego County.