Nevada gilia is a locally rare annual with small purple flowers and a basal rosette of leaves.  It tends to co-occur with Aase’s onion (Allium aaseae), such as along the Polecat Loop.  It differs from the similar rosy gilia (Gilia sinuata) in having cottony hairs on the lower stem and leaves.  Both species were probably once more common in the Boise Front, but most of their sandy habitat is now dominated by invasive non-natives.

In older references, this species was usually treated as a synonym of Gilia inconspicua, or a more broadly defined G. sinuata.  According to Bjornson (1946):  “Gilia inconspicua is too inconspicuous to have earned a common name.  It may be found growing at low elevations on dry hillsides.”