Dwarf perennial endemic to the Alps and the Pyrenees, growing in the crevices of limestone rocks and rocky alpine meadows between 1,800 and 3,500 meters.
It forms dense and hard cushions of very tight small rosettes, the short, spatulate leaves covered with star-shaped white hairs giving them a characteristic grayish to silvery appearance. The flowers, borne on very short stems, are white to very pale pink, with a yellow eye, and appear in June-July.
It belongs to the group of tomentose cushion androsaces, which are among the most demanding in cultivation, requiring a limestone rock crevice, absolute drainage, and rigorous protection against stagnant winter moisture.