This hairy, sticky, sprawling to semi-erect plant has branching stems that spread 10–40-inches high or long. Note the spherical clusters of white, tubular flowers.

FLOWERS: March–May. Fragrant, white;  2–3-inch spherical clusters with 30–80 tubular flowers, each with 5 white petals, occasionally pink, with wavy, lobed edges; flowers open 1/4–3/8-inch wide (6–10 mm) at the end of a 3/8–1-inch long (1–2.5 cm), green to reddish tube; flowers open late afternoon for nighttime pollination. The seeds are a 1/4–1/2-inch long (5–12 mm) inverted cone with grooves.

LEAVES: Opposite and unequal in size. Blades hairy, oval to lance-shaped, 1–4 3/4 inches long (2.5–12 cm) by 3/8–3-inches wide (1–7.6 cm), on long stems.; margins entire to wavy; sticky, covered with fine hairs.

HABITAT: Sandy, clay soils, roadsides, disturbed areas; dunes, desert grassland, pinyon-juniper woodlands.

ELEVATION: 1,300–7,200 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CO, KS, MT, NE, NM, ND, OK, SD, TX, UT, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: White to pink-flowered species include A. elliptica (Four Corners), which some sources lump with A. fragrans, with sticky, hairy, oval leaf blades, 1/2–2 3/8 inches long (1.5–6 cm) with an inverted cone-shaped seed with wings. A. bigelovii (no. cen. NM) has basal leaves only with narrow, linear blades 1/2–3 inches long (1.5–8 cm) and flowers in the fall. A. nana (Four Corners) has basal leaves only with oval blades less than 1 inch long (2.5 cm).

NM COUNTIES: Statewide except Moro and the Boothill counties in low- to mid-elevation, dry habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Chaves, Cibola, Colfax, Curry, De Baca, Dona Ana, Eddy, Guadalupe, Harding, Lea, Lincoln, Los Alamos, McKinley, Otero, Quay, Rio Arriba, Roosevelt, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Union, Valencia.