Celmisia saxifraga is an alpine and subalpine rosette herb. It is similar to C. asteliifolia, but the leaves of C. saxifraga tend to be shorter (usually less than about 4cm long) and white not green on the upper surface. It is also sometimes confused with Helichrysum pumilum, which has leaves of a similar size and shape, but leaves that are green and hairless above (and also does not have ray flowers - instead it has papery bracts [phyllaries] that resemble ray flowers)